


Walnuts

by Nuggsmum



Category: Tom Hiddleston - Fandom
Genre: Actor Tom Hiddleston, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Fluffy, Walnuts, tom hiddleston - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-24 19:48:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 41,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9783173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuggsmum/pseuds/Nuggsmum
Summary: So this was supposed to be a one shot, fluffy Christmas story. This monster had a mind of its own and became a 16 chapter story. It's a love story. It begins in Target in the middle of the night. I know. Please let me know what you think. I welcome feedback that will help me improve my writing. Please keep in mind this is my first attempt at fan fiction! Thanks and I hope you enjoy it.





	1. Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A meet cute in the baking aisle at Target. Some swearing/suggestion of violence.

I pulled into a parking spot at Target, wishing that I had gone to the store during lunch like I had intended. It seemed that I could never get away from my desk long enough to do anything useful on my lunch hour. My phone started to go off, playing “Here Comes the Sun” making me jump. I glanced at it, and hit silent. 

“Thank God they are open 24 hours for the holidays.” I muttered, pulling on my hat and gloves for the short walk to the store. It was quarter to midnight on a Wednesday night, and damn, was it cold. 

As I walked past the back end of my car, I noticed a dent. 

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! It’s brand new! Damn it!” I cursed. I noticed a man had gotten out of the car across from mine, and glanced over at my out burst. 

“Nice car. A Jaguar. What the hell was someone with a Jag doing in North Central Massachusetts? I wonder how they handle in the snow?” I thought. He kept walking towards the store, and I followed. It was too cold to stand and stare at the dent, and staring at the strangers back as I walked behind him seemed a much better sight anyways. He was tall, with sexy shoulders. He looked powerful, but still slim. The kind of guy you wanted to climb like a tree. He carried himself like he had the confidence of a king. And, man, what a suit. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, which, to be honest, was kind of crazy in this frigid weather. 

“I could warm him up.” I thought. I silently scolded myself. I’d sworn off men. “Remember Rose, men are scum. You don’t need them, no matter how long it’s been…. God he looks good from behind… Hopefully he’s as hot in the front….Stop!” I silently argued with myself. This was pathetic, oogling strange men from behind. I shook my head to clear the naughty thoughts and followed him through the door. 

My phone went off again. I stopped to see who it was. John. I hit silent again. I noticed Mr. Sexy Back glance my way. 

“I will not look, I will not look. If I don’t look, he can remain ugly in my head and then I won’t be tempted. Yeah, right. Like I could get a man that dresses like a GQ model and drives a Jag. What the heck was he doing here, anyways? Probably on his way to Boston.“ I though.

I grabbed a carriage and dug out my list. Even though Christmas was in 2 days, I noticed that the store was pretty dead. Fine by me. I had enough people for the day. I had gotten off late from my job as a medical assistant, having stayed to make sure my patients were all set for the holiday. We were closed for the next few days, a nice Christmas bonus from my doctor. I ended up calling a few of my elderly widows and widowers, to make sure they had everything they needed and that made for some long phone calls. They get lonely, and want to talk. I was not in the best of moods, because as much as I loved my Golden Oldies, they had children, and other family. It shouldn’t be the medical assistant with no life from their doctors office that called them to check in. To make sure they have food in the fridge. 

I had made it to the hair care aisle, and was humming Christmas carols. I may have had a bad day, and hated people at the moment, but I love Christmas! Even though it was going to be just me and Mitch this year. Mitch was my loyal old hound dog mix, who loved me almost as much as he loved his treats. I had decided to get him a new bone while I was there, and set about opening and smelling some of the bottles, trying to decide on which scent I wanted for my conditioner, when my phone rang again. John. I hesitated, this had gone on long enough. I hit the talk button. 

“What the hell do you want?” I hissed into the phone, glancing around to make sure I was still alone. 

“Hey babe! I missed you.” Came his slurred words. 

“John, I’m not your babe anymore, and I wish you would stop calling me. Are you drunk?” I whispered. I could hear someone in the next aisle, and I didn’t want to be “that” person. Airing your dirty laundry in the middle of the store, I mean, this was Target, not Walmart. Standards, people, standards. 

“I drink because you ruined what we had. You became an uppity bitch,” came his belligerent reply. 

“I ruined it? John, you screwed my accountant! My accountant for gods sake! I walked in on you two at what was supposed to be my appointment to get my taxes done! You have the gall to say that I ruined things? Besides, I was done with the way you treated me. Get over yourself. It’s been 9 months. Move on. Find some other poor fool to tell your lies to and to treat like crap.“ I said flatly. 

“You’re getting mouthy with out me to keep you in check, aren’t you? I should teach you respect your man. ” He sneered, sounding meaner than I had ever heard him. 

“Are you threatening me?” I breathed, not believing that this was the man I thought I had loved, even though he had treated me horribly for the two years we were together. 

“What are you gonna do about it, bitch? I could make you come back to me, make you sorry you ever left. Yeah, real sorry.” He laughed. 

“I’m done with this conversation, you need to sober up and think about things. Move on and leave me alone, John.” I hung up the phone. I started to tremble and cry. I had never told anyone about the way John had always spoke to me, partly because I believed that he would never act on it. When we broke up, he stared calling me a lot and sort of threatening me, but it almost seemed halfhearted, like he didn’t really mean it. He was just venting. So I let it go. But over the past few weeks, it had gotten worse. The phone calls were more frequent. Tonight was the first time he had actually threatened to hurt me. 

I could hear the person in the next aisle coming around the corner, so I blindly grabbed a conditioner and stared to push my cart in the opposite direction. Oh, great. It was Mr. Sexy Back. And from what I could see from my quick glance though tear filled eyes, he was Sexy Front too. Damnit. I fled the aisle as quick as I could with out looking like a total lunatic. I had a feeling he heard my conversation. He just stood in the aisle and looked after me. 

I went to the women’s department, figuring I was safe there and finished wiping my eyes and took a few deep breaths. “It will be ok” I though. He doesn’t know where my new apartment is, and he’s just blowing off steam. My phone rang. John. I hit silent. I looked around and noticed Mr. Sexy Back was in another aisle near the woman’s section and he glance my way when he heard my ring tone. It rang again and I jumped. I looked at the screen. It was my boss. I answered it, breathing a sigh of relief. 

“Hey Dr. W, what’s up?” I said, trying to steady my voice. 

He had some questions about the patients that I send in prescriptions for before I left, the pharmacy had called for clarification on a few. I told him about one of the widowers I had spoken with before I left, and that I ended up going to the store to get him some food and dropped it off to him. I had ended up staying and chatting with him for a few hours. “It’s ridiculous, he has a daughter the lives two towns over. How can she live with herself, not making sure her father has food in the house?”

“Rose, you do too much sometimes. I mean, I appreciate it, but you have to separate work and life.“ He scolded me. 

“I know, I know! I just get so attached to them, I can’t help it but to make sure they are ok. His wife would have been thankful that someone thought of him, besides, I changed the bandage on his foot, so we can bill for it.” I joked. 

We spoke for a few more minutes as I strolled towards the baking aisle. 

“Well, tell Sharon and the kids I said Happy Hanukkah.” I said in closing. I hung up the phone and it rang again. John. I hit silent and groaned. This was getting ridiculous. I heard someone behind me and noticed out of the corner of my eye it was Mr. Sexy back again. I turned in the baking aisle and he followed. I looked at my list. Walnuts. I looked at the nut section, it was pretty sparse. There was one bag left. It was way more than I needed, but as it was the only one, I grabbed it. Meanwhile, Mr. Sexy Back had gotten closer and was perusing the nut section as well. I could only just smell his cologne and he smelled so damn good. I closed my eyes and inhaled. “God, I’m pathetic,” I chided myself. I heard him sigh. My eyes snapped open and I looked at him. He was gorgeous. Dear god alive. 

I looked at him and muttered, “That was quite a heavy sigh for the baking aisle. This is a happy place, a place where cookies come from. Your negativity is not appreciated.“ I was immediately mortified at my attempt of a joke. He turned to look at me and a small smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Walnuts. They are out of walnuts. The one thing I came in for.” He said in the sexiest British accent I had ever heard. I literally had to focus on closing my mouth, it was hanging open. “I-I-I have nuts,” I stammered. I inwardly cringed, knowing I sounded like an idiot. He smiled fully at me, and Jesus Lord Almighty. The man was a God. 

“Do you now? You seem like you’re all woman to me, but who am I to judge.” He smirked, looking me up and down, making my skin prickle and heat up. Those eyes, oh my god. I shook my head, clearing it of the cobwebs that get there when it’s been far too long since you’ve had great sex, or even mediocre sex, or any sex at all for that matter, and narrowed my eyes at him. “I have the last bag of walnuts. Would you like to split it with me?” I questioned him, feeling proud of myself for recovering so quickly. He smiled at me, a big boyish grin. “That would be fantastic!” He exclaimed. 

"Well, I just made his night now, didn’t I?" I thought. 

As we stood there and looked at each other, my phone went off. I reached for it and he snapped “Don’t you dare answer that phone if it’s him.” I looked at him in shock. He had heard my conversation. His face had changed from the boyish smile to rigid stone within a split second. 

“I wasn’t planning on it.” I answered, warily stepping behind my cart. He watched me make this maneuver and looked pained. “Im sorry, I didn’t mean for that to come out that way. I didn’t mean to scare you. Christ, you’ve got enough of that, haven’t you? I couldn’t help hearing you earlier, and it seemed that wherever I went in the store, you were there. I heard you speaking to your doctor. You sound like an amazing person, caring for your patient the way you did. I cannot stand men who treat women in the way that man treated you. I know it’s not my business, but you can’t go back to him. He doesn’t deserve you.” His blue eyes bored into mine. Damn. He was incredible. 

“I-I-I left him months ago, and he’s been basically stalking me. He treated me like shit when we were together, and now he’s threatening me. I’m scared that he may plan to hurt me, and I don’t know what to do.” I blurted out, hating how defenseless I sounded. Why was I telling this absolute stranger this? 

“I don’t even know you, yet I’m telling you this, you must think I’m insane.” I looked down, avoiding his penetrating gaze. 

“I don’t know you, but I feel like I’ve met you before, in another life perhaps. I have this urge to protect you, like you are mine and it’s my duty. Now you must think I’m mad.” He breathed. I slowly looked back up at him and could see the sincerity in his eyes. Who was this man, who made me feel safe. I did feel safe, I noticed that since our strange conversation started, I hadn’t had that feeling of needing to look behind me. I felt calm. Calm, but extremely turned on. This man really was a God. 

“Maybe we should start this over and introduce ourselves first.” I said, trying to sound like my heart wasn’t hammering in my throat. “My name is Rose.” I said, feeling myself blush, because let’s face it, I felt like a moron . 

“My name is Tom, and it is my pleasure to meet you, Rose.” He said, smiling into my eyes as he took my hand and kissed my knuckles. Dear reader, I almost swooned. Yes, you heard me, swooned. He held my hand for what was way too long for my senses to handle, staring into my eyes. “Would you like to get a drink with me, Rose?” He murmured, rubbing his thumb along the back of my hand. I felt my knees go weak. 

“I would, b-b-but that wouldn’t be wise.” I stammered. Good lord, make him stop staring at me with those unnerving eyes. I felt as though I would have an orgasm just looking at him. 

“And that would be because…..” He trailed off, waiting for me to finish the sentence. 

“Because I’ve sworn off men. In case you can’t tell.” I muttered, looking away. 

He reached out his hand, gently grasping my chin, “That is not a man.” He growled, looking fierce. “You deserve someone who will treat you like the queen you are, as all women should be treated. Any poor excuse for a man who treats a woman the way he treated you should be taken out back and beaten.” I stared up into his beautiful face, wondering if I was dreaming. That’s it, it must be a dream. I reached out and touched his cheek. It felt real. I shook me head and stepped back, wondering where this crazy conversation was headed. 

“So, Rose. How about that drink.” He purred. I looked up at him, God, he was tall. 

“I don’t feel like drinking.” I said, bewitched by the boyish smile that sprang to his mouth at my statement.

“Really? I don’t really either, it just seemed like the only way to keep you with me so late at night. Are there any late night coffee shops around here?.” He asked. 

“Do you even know where you are? You are in the middle of nowhere!“ I squeaked. “The only reason this store is open is because Christmas is in 2 days. Things around here close at 9 normally.” He pondered that for a moment, looking around. 

“You know, I don’t know where I am, I just got off the highway because I saw the Target sign…. And I had a feeling I had to stop here….So, what are we to do then?” He asked, smiling at me like the Cheshire Cat. 

“Uhh. I have to finish shopping and get home. Mitch will miss me if I’m gone much longer, I would love to have a coffee or something but I really don’t think it’s a good idea, I have to make a lot of cookies, and then….” I trailed off, realizing I was rambling. 

“Ok, can I finish shopping with you then?” He asked, smiling at my awkwardness. 

“It’s a free country.” I replied, instantly hating myself. Why would I say that? I hate myself. 

He laughed and said “Yes, yes it is, isn’t it?” He followed me to the pet section where I proceeded to grab one of those huge bones that can’t fit through a door way. “Do you have a dog or a dinosaur?” Tom asked, eyeing the giant bone. 

“Oh, Mitch is about the size of a small horse, but he thinks he’s a lap dog.” I laughed. 

“Ah, so Mitch is your dog. I was wondering who would miss you if you stayed out too late.” He smiled at me and winked. I literally thought I would die. 

How was I going to get away from this charming man? And did I even want to? He had to be insane, right? I mean, who tried to pick you up at Target in the middle of the night besides a crazy man who wanted to chop you to bits with an ax?


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fluffiness. Meet cute part two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I guess a warning? Some violence ensues. But it will be ok, I promise!

I looked over at him, wondering if I was absolutely insane for wanting to go with him. If I invited him to my apartment, would he come? Would he kill me in my sleep?! Did I care if it meant I could get into those gloriously tailored pants?

“Ok, crazy girl, you need to back up here and calm down. Maybe a cold shower wouldn’t hurt, either.” I thought to myself.

As I was debating the pros and cons of being murdered by such a specimen of gorgeousness, my phone went off. My eyes flew to Tom’s face. He clenched his teeth shut, and I noticed a muscle ticking in his cheek. I hit the silent button and half-heartedly smiled at him.

“I don’t suppose you would let me speak to the little worm, would you?” He asked, deceivingly calm. His amazing eyes were like blue electric storms, pounding into mine with such intensity that I lost my breath.

“What would be the point? He will eventually get over it and leave me alone; he’s just acting out because he thinks I left him for no good reason…” I stopped mid-excuse at the look on Tom’s face. He wasn’t buying it.

“So,” he drawled, deftly changing the subject, “What else do we need?” I stared at him as he proceeded to get behind my cart and push it down the aisle. “God, I could get used to shopping with him,” I thought, following him.

“I need to get a scarf and a few baskets. Oh, and some ribbon. Really, you don’t need to finish shopping with me.” I looked at him, hoping he would tell me he did need to finish shopping with me. There was something about him. Something that made me feel all weak and giddy. Something that made me want to run like a woman possessed into his arms and never, ever leave. I was insane.

“And how would I get the nuts you so kindly promised to share with me?” He asked, smiling that megawatt grin.

I was struck dumb for a second and made a noise that sounded like “ppppffffttttbbb.” He just kept walking. My phone went off again. This time he grabbed it out of my hand, and answered it.

“Do yourself a favor and leave the lady alone.” He said it in a surprisingly friendly voice, given the look of hard steel in his eyes. He hung up the phone before John could say a word.

“So sorry, Love. Couldn’t be helped,” he said, and leaned over, his lips settling near my ear. “Next time I won’t be as nice. He really needs to stop with this foolishness.” And walked away, saying, “I believe the baskets are over here?”

We spoke of random things as we looked for the items on my list. We talked about books and music. “In the spirit of the season, what is your favorite Christmas song and movie?” he asked.

“Hmm. That’s a tough one. I think I have a few for different reasons. Favorite church Christmas song is Silent Night. Because when I was younger, we would go to midnight mass and they would turn all the lights off and sing it, just the candles lit… it was beautiful. Favorite older Christmas song… White Christmas by the Drifters, it makes me laugh. Favorite newer Christmas song… Last Christmas by Wham! I guess it gives me hope that you can move on, even at Christmas.” I was staring at my hands, feeling embarrassed; like I had shared too much with this stranger, who, felt like he was quickly becoming less of a stranger.

“Movies?” He prompted, gently breaking my reverie.

“Miracle on 34th Street, Love Actually, Holiday Inn, I think White Christmas gets too much credit, even though I do like White Christmas, too. Besides, Fred Astaire’s drunk dance? Perfection!” I declared. “And yours?” I asked him, wondering how he could possibly be interested in this drivel.

“The Snowman with David Bowie and We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” he said right away.

“I’ve never seen that, but I loved Bowie,” I said with feeling. “I’ll have to find it and watch it sometime.”

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and simply said, “We can watch it together.”

I swallowed and took a deep breath, getting ready to say something about how that wouldn’t be happening, and he changed the subject again, asking about my work. We spoke of that and he mentioned that he traveled a lot for work.

“What do you do?” I asked him. He stared at me for a long moment, then said “I don’t mean to come off as arrogant, but you truly have no idea who I am, do you?”

I looked at him, taking in his hair cut, his suit, dear God alive, he was fine, and had a vague feeling that I had seen him before. I said as much, adding, “Oh, are you a doctor? Have I seen you at one of those conferences Dr. W drags me to?” He laughed at that, and started to walk down the aisle again. I stood and stared after him. He had the cutest laugh, kind of like “ehehehehehe.” Adorable man. “Stop it right now, Rose. Do not get attached to him, this cannot work!” I scolded myself.

We managed to find everything I needed, and made our way over to the register. The kid that was working started, doing a double take when he saw Tom. “Dude. Are you…”

“Just put it all on one bill, please.” Tom cut him off. I looked from one to the other, the kid looking like Christmas had been taking away, and Tom smiling at him and shaking his head.

“Oh, no. No, no, no. Nope. This is mine, this is his. Separate please.” I said primly. Tom looked at me with a mixture of exasperation and some other heated emotion I really tried not to read into. But really wanted to. Multiple times. All. Night. Long.

As the kid was ringing up our things, he kept staring at Tom, almost worshipfully. Maybe he was gay? I mean, I was having a hard time not staring at him too. Just look at him. Tom was talking to him, asking him questions. His name was Derek, he was in college. His major was in biology. He kept calling Tom “Sir.” As I was tucking my card and receipt away, I glanced over and noticed Tom writing something on his receipt, and handing it back to the kid. He looked like Christmas had been given back. “Duuuuude! You are the best! Uh, Sir.” Tom just smiled, and headed towards the door with me. “What the heck was that about?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing. So, what shall we do now?” He asked, his eyes sparkling.

“Listen, Tom, it’s been really nice, er… amazing really, meeting you. You seem like a real nice guy, and part of me would love to spend more time with you.” I was babbling again. We had reached my car. As I opened the hatch, he moved closer and put his finger to my lips, effectively silencing me and making my heart leap out of my chest and do the Charleston. Holy mother of god, he smelled so good, I thought I would die. Just die right there in the Target parking lot and be okay with it. 

“Rose, love. I have no intention of leaving you tonight. Let me be perfectly honest and tell you, this is not me. This is so not me, it’s not even funny. I don’t usually go to a store in the middle of the night, listen in on the private conversations of a complete stranger, and then meddle in her affairs. I got off the highway because I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had to, that somehow if I didn’t, my life would be damaged in some way, that I would miss something so special, I would hate myself forever. And then I found you here. It cannot be a coincidence. I am drawn to you. I want you so badly, my God, the things I want to do to you. I want feel you beneath me, your legs wrapped around me. I want to hear you scream my name! And, yet, I want to protect you more than anything. It’s like you have imprinted on my soul, and now that I’ve met you, I could never live with myself if I didn’t act on this. I-” He had been speaking so quickly, with such an intense passion, that I literally had become weak in the knees. 

He had to grab my waist to steady me and was leaning in, his eyes fluttering shut. I could feel his body heat radiating off of him. I reached up to grab his suit jacket, mostly because I needed to steady myself, but let’s face it, also because I wanted to feel that fabric. I grasped it and breathed his name. “Tom. I don’t know…” 

He hushed me, and leaned in more. I closed my eyes. All of a sudden his heat was ripped away from me and I felt cold, the coldest I had ever felt, like my very soul had been torn from in front of me. I heard a grunt and my eyes flew open. I screamed as I realized what was happening. 

It was John. He had charged at Tom, who was now lying on the ground. John whipped around towards me and pushed me up against my car. “You fucking whore. Who the fuck is that?” He yelled into my face. His breath stank of stale whiskey. 

I whimpered as he grabbed my hair and pulled me to the side, towards his truck, that I somehow had not noticed before. He threw me up against his truck, the side of my head connecting with the side mirror. I saw stars, and felt as if the ground was moving under my feet. I felt John grab my arm roughly as he tried to push me in to the truck, all the while he was yelling at me. 

“You fucking slut! So you’re fucking every guy you meet now? I’ll teach you. You need to be put back in your fucking place, you god damned who-”. His tirade was cut off by a fist to his jaw. 

My arm was forcefully removed from John’s grasp, and I fell to the ground, scraping my hands. I heard the knees of my scrub pants rip and felt the asphalt slice into my legs. My hands and knees were stinging as I scuttled around like a damn crab, trying to get out of the way. I tried to focus on what was happening, but I was seeing double, and couldn’t tell who was hitting who. 

I heard three quick thuds, and saw John go down like a sack of potatoes. Tom was on his knees in front of me in an instant, gently grabbing my shoulders. 

“Darling, are you ok? Speak to me.” Tom said urgently. 

“God, there are two of you… that’s not fair, I can barely resist one…Aw, your beautiful forehead has a cut…you smell so good… I need to bring the roast.” I incoherently managed to mumble before I passed out in his arms.


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So warnings. There is a panic attack depicted in this one. And swearing.

“Rose. Rose. Girl, if you don’t wake up, I’m gonna slap you so hard, that curly mess of hair on top your head is gonna go straight.”

My eyes felt like they had weights on them. I tried to open them, but they were so heavy. And why was it so bright?

“Can you turn down the sun?” I groaned.

“There you go, Sweetheart. Come on, come back to Martha.”

“Martha?” I croaked. “What?” I slowly opened my eyes. I was laying in the back of an ambulance. Martha, a paramedic, who I had known for years, and happened to be my best friends, was looking at me with a mixture of worry and amusement in her large brown eyes.

“Girl, what kind of mess you got yourself into now?” She drawled, chuckling.

“Oh, God! Is Tom ok?” I tried to sit up. “Shit, my head.” I flopped back down in the stretcher.

“Honey Bunny, he is fine, in more ways than one, mmm-hmm. But you wanna explain to me why I had to have Doug forcibly remove Tom Hiddleston from the back of my bus? He was beside himself, still is really. He was bleeding all over the damn place and wouldn’t let me treat his cut. We got here first, Sargent Slowpoke took forever. He’s giving his statement now. What the hell is going on?”

“Hiddleston… huh. That’s his last name?” I felt like I knew him from somewhere, but just couldn’t wrap my head around it.

“You need to start from the beginning, Doll. Momma needs some answers. I was called out of my nice warm station at this God forsaken hour to an assault call. I show up to find you, passed out in the arms of Tom Fucking Hiddleston, who is bleeding from his glorious forehead, all over the place, did I mention that? Then there is your piece of shit ex-boyfriend. On the ground. Hog tied with Christmas ribbon. Even for you, this is a bit much.” She said.

“John has been kind of stalking me, calling me a lot, saying things. He was drunk, and he attacked us when we left the store, I don’t kno-” I was trying to explain to her, when there was a banging on the doors of the ambulance.

Martha eyeballed me for a moment, then leaned over and opened the doors.

“Don’t make me call Doug again.” She said to Tom, shaking her finger at him. I stared at him, standing there, looking amazing, holding a wad of gauze to his forehead. Doug was Martha’s police officer husband, who I could see over by my car, looking at something on the ground. It was John, and he was tied up with the ribbon I had just bought in the store.

Tom followed my gaze, turned back to me and a small smile lifted the corner of his mouth. 

“You gonna let me take a look at you now? Or we can just let that pretty face of yours have a big ole scar if you want.” Martha barked at him, snapping us out of the moment.

“I do apologize, I just wanted Rose to be cared for first. Her injuries are much worse than mine. Please forgive my rude behavior.“ Tom said, turning his charm on. Martha was immune, it seemed.

“Mmmhhmm. Get up in here and close that door. Letting out my heat, like he was raised in a barn.” She muttered, turning to reach for her bandage kit.

Tom obeyed, climbing gracefully up into the ambulance, and sitting by my knee on the stretcher. Martha stopped what she was doing to stare at him.

“There is another seat over here.” She said, pointing next to her on the bench.

Tom looked at me and said to Martha, “I need to be here.” Simple as that. It really did make me feel a little better, having him near. I could feel the black edge of panic starting to set in. The realization that if he hadn’t been here to save me, I might have been seriously hurt or worse, was really coming to the front of my brain. I felt as though I was watching everything through thick glass, and the conversation was muted. Tom took my hand and gently, avoiding the scratches, rubbed the back of it with his thumb.

Martha stared him down for about 2 full minutes. She then tsked, and said, “Hey, Hollywood. You need to look over here for me to fix up your face.” But she was smiling slightly as she said it. Like she was starting to warm to him.

“Anything for you, Martha.” He said solemnly, obediently turning his face.

She pulled back the gauze and it didn’t look to bad at all. Head wounds tend to bleed like crazy, even if they are mild. She flushed it with some saline, put a little triple antibiotic on it, and slapped a steri-strip on it.

“You’ll be fine, just keep it clean.” She said, all business as usual when it came to care instructions. “You, on the other hand, Little Miss, I think we should take you to the ER for observation. You took a hit, and have a nasty egg to prove it. Now, Doug will be wanting a statement, but he can do that there.” She stated, like there was no other option. 

“No, I’m fine.” I tried to sit up again, but Tom gently put his hand on my shoulder, pushing me back down. I looked at Martha saying “Really. No, really, Martha! I’m fine. I know the signs to look for, and I would be much better off at home. Where I can get some sleep and peace and quite. You know how it is at the ER! Plus Mitch needs to go out!” I begged.

Martha looked like she would argue with me, when Tom cut her off saying “I will take excellent care of her, she will be pampered in every way possible.”

Martha looked at me, saying “It’s up to you, Sweetness. I can’t make you go. But you know my opinion on the matter, I would feel better if we can do a scan to make sure you don’t have a subdural.”

“I really want to go home, please. I’m fine, really. It's been a very long day.” I pleaded.

Martha opened the door and waved Doug over. I noticed that John was gone. Thank god. If I never saw him again, it would be too soon. Doug ambled over to the back door and leaned in.

“Quite the night, eh, Rosie?” He chuckled. He cleared his throat, “John is going to be charged with multiple offenses, not limited to attempted kidnaping and attempted murder. He had a gun and a shovel in his truck, Rosie. Why didn’t you tell us he had been stalking you all this time?” He asked, switching from good natured cop to concerned fatherly figure. I felt like I had let him down. Doug and Martha were at least 20 years older than me. It didn’t stop them from being some of my favorite people.

“I dunno, I just thought he would get tired of it.” I muttered, not meeting any of their eyes. I felt ashamed that he had gotten away with treating me that way for so long. I felt weak for not being able to save myself. I felt like a horrible person. What if Tom had gotten really hurt trying to defend me?

I looked to Doug, pleading silently with him to get this over and done with quickly. He seemed to understand, the questions being short and to the point.

Martha have me instructions on caring for the scrapes and bruises, told me to ice the egg on my head, and instructed Tom on what to watch out for.

“Nausea, vomiting, dizziness, change in vision. Any of those things, you bring her to the ER. Make sure she takes it easy.” She said as we climbed out of the back of the ambulance.

“I think you should be fine for tomorrow afternoon, you’re bringing the roast, right? Norma talked me into making my cornbread, like I have time for that!” She leaned out the back and planted a kiss on my forehead. “Nothing too strenuous, if you get my drift, Lover Boy.” She shot Tom a look. She cackled after us.

“Oh, and Mr. Hiddleston?“ She call out. “If you harm so much as a hair on my precious girl’s head, I will cut you.” She said pleasantly.

Tom stopped after helping me into my coat and turned towards Martha, with the most sincere look on his face said “Martha, my dear, if I ever harm a single hair on her head, I will buy you the knife.” He turned back around, gently put his arm around my waist and said “Come along darling, let’s get you home.”

Tom drove my car, leaving his at Target. I told him my address and he punched it into the navigation system. I sat and stared out the window, wondering how I could ever apologize for what had happened. I felt like he should despise me, that he should have left me to the care of my friends and run, screaming in the other direction. 

Instead, he kept murmuring soothing words, while rubbing his hand up and down my thigh. He kept throwing anxious glances at me, asking if I felt like I would be sick or was I dizzy. I mostly nodded or shook my head in response, it took too much effort to think of words to say.

We pulled into the long drive leading to my apartment.

“You live here?” He asked, sounding impressed as he took in the beautiful white washed Victorian mansion and its expansive grounds.

“Oh, no. I live in what used to be the carriage house. It’s out back, behind the modern garage. The owners give me a good deal, because they are gone a lot and I water their plants when they are gone. They go to Florida in the winter.” I explained.

He pulled up alongside the carriage house and put the car in park. He jumped out of the car and walked swiftly to my door, holding it open and grasping my hand to help me out. “Milady.” He smirked.

I gave him a small smile, that he returned with interest. He led me to the door, and as I unlocked it, I could feel his gaze on the side of my face. I turned to look at him, and he looked so angry, I took a step back.

“No, no, no, no, darling. I’m sorry, I was thinking about that bastard and what he could have done to you. What had planned to do. Thank God I was there. Please, please don’t ever be frightened of me. I will never hurt you, I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” I muttered, pushing the door open and heading to the stairs.

The downstairs section held relics of years gone by. Old cars, furniture, toys, trunks of clothes, you name it. The big open floor plan had been collecting treasures for almost 100 years, since the “modern” garage had been built. 

We climbed the beautifully carved staircase towards my apartment.

“This is pretty impressive for what probably used to be servers quarters.” He said, running his hand along the oak banister. God, I wish he would touch me that way I thought. “Stop, Rose.” I thought.

I unlocked the frosted glass door on the upper landing, pushing the door open. Immediately, a giant, black, fluffy monster bounded out of the door.

“Mitch! Hi baby!” I said, as I reached down to scratch his head. He whimpered in response.

“I have to walk him. He’s been home alone all day.” I said as I reached for his leash.

Tom didn’t say a word, just grabbed the leash and clipped it to Mitch’s collar. Mitch started to pull him toward the stairs.

“Go take a nice hot bath or a shower, I will be right back. Give me the keys, and lock the door. That’s a girl.” He said as I handed him the keys.

I shut the door behind me and leaned on it. This was absolutely the most insane night of my life. It was like I was watching from a distance. It didn’t feel real.

I headed from the kitchen into my cozy living room, and down the hall towards my bedroom. I could feel that black edge creeping in again. The panic was starting to come back. I told myself to calm down, that I was safe and Tom was just outside with Mitch.

Tom. How had he become so important to me in just a few short hours? How could just the thought of his name being me relief from the inescapable panic attack that was slowly working it’s way into my brain.

I turned on the shower, all the way up. Skin searing hot. I stripped out of my scrubs, wincing as I had to pull the fabric of my pants out of the cuts on my knees. I loved those pants. Another reason to hate that bastard.

I stepped into the shower, letting the boiling water wash over me. I leaned against the cool tile wall. I stared into space, not really seeing anything. I tried to fight it. It was inevitable. The last thing I thought before I let the panic take me over completely, was at least Tom can’t see what a mess I am. A sob escaped my lips as I slid down the wall to sit on the floor of the shower. I pulled my legs up and rested my head on them, hugging them to my body, as if I could roll into a ball and hide from this fear. I was shaking uncontrollably. 

Tom knocked gently on the door and said “Rose, love, are you alright? You’ve been in there quite a while.” 

When I didn’t respond, he tried the door, which I had locked. He knocked again, more insistently, calling my name. Somewhere beneath the gripping panic, part of me reveled in the sound of his voice, calling my name. 

“Rose, I’m sorry darling, but I’m going to break the door if you don’t answer me right now….” he called, sounding very anxious. 

I tried to respond, but all that came out was a pitiful sob. There was a loud bang as the door flew open, and Tom came barreling into the bathroom, Mitch hot on his heels. He stood and took in what was going on for a second, breathing heavily from his exertions. 

He took off his suit jacket, kicked off his shoes and came over to the shower. He opened the door and stepped in. He sat on the floor next to me and pulled me onto his lap, shushing and rocking me. Like a child. He sat there and held me for what seemed like hours, his hands rubbing my back, pushing my streaming hair off my face. Speaking kind, gentle and soothing words in a low voice. 

“It’s ok darling. I’ve got you. No one will hurt you again. Deep breaths, Love. Shhhh.” 

Eventually my sobs quieted and he stood, taking me with him as he exited the shower. He pulled a fluffy towel around my body, kissing me on the forehead, so gently, if I hadn’t been cried out, I may have cried. 

He proceeded to strip off his wet clothes and toss them into the shower, pulling another towel around his waist. I was completely exhausted and could barely move a muscle, but Good Lord Almighty. What a sight. 

He picked me up and walked down the hall to my bedroom. I didn’t have the strength to protest. He sat me on the edge of my bed and took a towel to dry my hair. 

“You have the most beautiful hair, did you know that? It’s lovely and long, and a deep brown, but red at the same time. Smells delicious, too.” He murmured as he finished. He got up and walked over to my dresser, saying “Pardon me, Love, I’m going to pillage your drawers…” and turned to cheekily smile at me. I managed a small smile in return. 

He opened and closed several drawers, finding what he wanted the third drawer down. A large, beat up, old tee shirt that was my favorite sleep shirt. He pulled it over my head, and gently pushed me back into the pillows, pulling the covers up. Mitch climbed up and lay on my feet. 

“Shall I read to you until you fall asleep, love?” He asked, poking through the stack of books on my bedside table. 

“You don’t have to, you have been so nice, and you must think I’m insane…Please don’t feel like you need to stay here. I’m such a mess….“I trailed off, suddenly feeling self conscious. 

“Nonsense, darling. I already told you earlier, I have no intention of leaving you now that I’ve found you. Tonight was a nightmare, and you have held up amazingly well. You are strong, love. Stronger than you give yourself credit for, I think. Sometimes you can only take so much before you can't process any more. I want you to try to get some sleep. I will be right here.” He climbed into the bed next to me, and pulled me close. I immediately began to drift to sleep. I have never felt more secure in my whole life. It was like I had finally come home.


	4. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A warning? My vocabulary consists of expletives and sarcasm. I’m sorry. Some sexual situations. Also, super fluff ahead! Wear boots!

I was walking in the woods. I heard loud footsteps, as if someone was running after me. I turned to see who it was, and saw only darkness. I began to move faster, and so did the footsteps. Every time I stopped to turn around, the footsteps ceased and there was no one there. I felt something wet brush across my hand. “What the fuck was that?” I yelled, flailing my arms out in front of me. I tried to run, but something was weighing down my legs. I screamed “Please, just let me go, please!”. I kicked out, connecting whatever had grabbed me and I heard a yelp. 

From all around me, I heard a low, calming voice, “Darling, wake up. It’s only a dream. Just a dream, Sweet. Wake up, Rose” 

I started awake, sitting straight up, realizing that the weight I felt in my dream had been Mitch, who was still laying on my feet. Cowering, but still there. What a good, loyal dog. 

“Oh, Mitch, baby, I’m sorry!” I cried. Reaching out to him he climbed up to my lap and snuggled into a ball. A ball the size of a boulder, but somehow, he managed. 

I slowly turned to look at Tom. I couldn’t believe he was still there. God damnit. He looked amazing with his hair having dried all curly the night before. He was sitting against the headboard, looking at me with concern in his eyes. 

“How’s the head, love?” He asked. He reached out and tucked my hair behind my ear. 

I stared at him, trying to compute what he had said. How is it possible that this man, this incredibly sexy man, was in my bed. I felt like the events of the night before had been a bad dream. I started to run over everything in my mind. Then I remembered the shower. Oh God. The fucking shower. This glorious man held me, sobbing, in my shower while I had a complete mental break. Oh, for fuck’s sake. 

“Oh God, oh God, oh God. I am so sorry. Jesus, I can’t even begin to apologize for everything…For last night, for John, for being a complete wreck.” I stopped to take a breath, and gasped. “Oh fuck! You saw me naked! Oh God…..” If the ground could have just opened up and swallowed me whole, I would have died happy. 

He smiled at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling up. “First thing, darling. Don’t ever apologize for what that bastard did. Which you keep doing, by the way. I am so thankful that I was there. I’ve been thinking about it all night. What could have happened had I not gotten off the highway and all this” he gestured between the two of us., “hadn’t happened. Don’t be sorry for that. Ever. Case closed, the end, have a good day. As for being a wreck, you deserved to be. I’m frankly a little concerned that you’re not more of a mess. You were assaulted by someone that you obviously trusted, at one point anyways. That fucks with a person’s mind. You did pretty well considering. And yes. I did see you naked. I’m not sorry about it, either. I didn’t really look. Too much, anyways. I may be a gentleman, but I’m not dead. It wasn’t the time for it. However, in fairness, you saw me naked, as well.” He ended, with a cheeky grin. 

I buried my face in Mitch’s gleaming, fluffy black coat. This was insane. Who was this man? I still didn’t understand how this happened. Wait…. 

“Who are you, really? Martha knew you. She knew your last name. Actually, she called you Tom Fucking Hiddleston, like I should know you. When she said it, it sounded vaguely familiar. Are you a politician or something? An author? Is that where I’ve seen you, on the back of a book? A mass murderer? You’ve been in the papers?” I managed to peek at him through Mitch’s fluffy mane. 

He smiled at me for a moment. “Martha called me that, did she?“ He chuckled. “I like her, she’s real. I’m not going to lie, I sort of enjoy the fact that you don’t know who I am. It’s a nice change. To you, I’m just Tom, the guy who tried to pick you up in the baking aisle at Target. To the rest of the world, I’m Tom Hiddleston, an actor.” He said simply. 

I looked up at him. I know I must have seen him in something, but I’m not much for tv. I gestured to the large bookcases covering 3 walls of my bedroom. “I don’t own a tv.” I said sheepishly. “Martha always tells me to get out of the 18th century and join the living, but books are like movies to me. Not that I haven’t seen movies. I’m not that weird.” I babbled on. I thought to my self, “Please just shut up. You are showing him how socially awkward you are!!!” 

"I was looking at those last night while you were sleeping. You have quite the collection. I hope you don’t mind, I borrowed one of your Shakespeare’s” He said, holding up a leather bound copy of his sonnets. 

“Of course not. So…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say to him. I looked at the clock, it was five past ten. 

"Oh no!” I cried as I jumped out of the bed like a drunk ninja, falling over the side in a tangle of bed clothes. “ I need to make cookies and get that damn roast in the oven, like 10 minutes ago! Damnit. I’m so sorry, I have to get this done now… do you want me call you a cab, or I can give you a ride after if you want….what?” I asked, noticing his eyes had widened. 

"Are you trying to get rid of me?” He said with a small smile. “I will go if you want me to. There is an old etiquette rule, Victorian, I think, that says the duty of a rejected suitor is that he shall accept the lady’s decision as final and will retire from the field. And while I have no right to demand reason for your refusal, I would hope that it is not because you feel like you don’t deserve happiness. Or at least to try for it. Besides, I would much rather stay and help you.” He said, leaning over the side of the bed, because, I was still in a heap on the floor. 

I stared up at him, my mouth opening and closing. 

"You? You want to help me make cookies? Where did you come from?” I was in disbelief. 

"Westminster, actually. Lovely place.” He said as he hopped off the bed and padded towards the bathroom. Without a stitch of clothing. Jaw, let me introduce you to the floor, I have a feeling you’re about to become good friends. 

He went in and shut the door. I was still staring at said door, when it popped back open and he peaked his head out. 

"Do you have a washer/dryer? My suit is in a sad state and I can’t really wear it right now.” He said, smiling at me. 

"Uhhh. I do, but I doubt that thing can go in a washer. Or a dryer. But wait!” 

I jumped up and ran out the door to my spare room. I started digging through the closet and found a sweatshirt and some track bottoms. 

"I hope those don’t belong to the Worm?” Tom said, right behind me. 

I gulped and turned around. He was still naked. “Ack! Look up, look up, woman. Mayday! Oh my God, stop staring at it!” I screamed in my head. Or maybe out loud, because he started chuckle. I forced my head to snap up, meeting his amused smile. 

"No, they are my brother's. Sometimes he crashes here when the weather is bad and he is at work late. I think they will be loose, but the length should work. I- ahh, I don’t want you to leave, if you don’t want to, that is. I don’t know why you seem so interested in me, but-” 

Tom cut me off by leaning in and gently brushing his lips over mine. He gripped my arms at the elbows and pulled me in, deepening the kiss. He sighed and leaned back, looking saddened. 

"What?” I asked. “Oh my God, he thought it was bad. He looks like he thought it was bad, and it was AH-FUCKING-MAZING! Dear God, if you love me at all, lightning, me, now, just end it.” I was screaming in my head. 

"How long do you think Martha’s instruction of “nothing too strenuous” is valid for? She scares me a little, and I wouldn’t want to make her upset.“ He said, then winked. 

I stared at him. I had a thought. “You can ask her later, if you’d like….don’t feel like you have to say yes to this, but, we are having a little get together, if you want to come? Martha and Doug will be there.” 

I held my breath, praying he would say yes, because even though I had been trying to resist him since we met, I didn’t want to. I really, really, really didn’t want to resist him anymore. 

"I was hoping I would get invited to wherever the prodigal roast was going. I would be delighted to go.” He said. He leaned in and kissed me on the forehead, making a noise in his throat, almost like a groan. Like he wanted to do more than just kiss me on the forehead. A lot more. I was a puddle of goo on my spare bedroom carpet. 

He turned and headed to the door, looking over his shoulder as he said, “Shall I meet you in the kitchen, then?” He chuckled when he noticed where my eyes were trained. I had the decency to blush, at least. 

I hurried down the hall towards the kitchen. My kitchen is my favorite room in my apartment. It’s bright and welcoming, with hawthorn yellow walls over white wainscoting. The brown counters have golden flecks that reflect the yellow walls. It’s just the right size for an avid home cook. 

I pulled out a pan and grabbed the roast out the fridge. I put it on the counter and headed into the pantry to get the special spice rub I had gotten. I came back into the kitchen to find Tom, leaning against the counter, looking deliciously disheveled. I smiled at him. 

"Would you like a cup of tea, darling? I make a mean cup of tea. ” He proudly boasted. “Or do you prefer coffee?” 

"I drink coffee at work, but tea at home. Is that weird?” I asked, as I rubbed the spices into the roast. It smelled like Christmas. 

Tom was staring, as if mesmerized by what my hands were doing to the roast. He cleared his throat, and headed to the pantry, murmuring, “No, not at all, dear.” 

"I only have tea bags. They are in the sunflower container. Left side, third shelf? I think?” I called out to him. I covered the roast and slid it into the oven. 

Tom returned with mugs and tea bags. “Kettle?” He inquired. 

"Cabinet above the stove.” I said as I ventured back into the pantry to get the ingredients for the cookies. It was odd, but nice, being so domestic with him. I thought to myself, “I could get used to this, but don’t get your hopes up. But wait a minute,” I scolded myself. “Why the hell shouldn’t I get my hopes up. It about damn time something good came along for me. And you know what, Negative Nancy? I’m going to grab on. With both hands. Fuck it.” 

I came back out of the pantry with a new mindset. I was going to stop resisting, stop putting myself down, and see where this was headed. 

"I need to walk Mitch real quick and grab the walnuts from my car. Would you mind measuring out the dry ingredients?” I asked as I handed him a note card with the recipe. 

"Gladly.” He smiled. But instead of starting on his task, he pulled me closer, and trailed his fingers along the side of my head that had hit John’s truck last night. His eyes looked darker, and he took a deep breath and leaned in and kissed me again. “Good lord, I could do this all day. What party? Forget about it. I’m busy.” I thought, joyously. 

He pulled back and resumed trailing his fingers along my temple. “You’ve got quite the bruise there, darling. It makes me sick to see your beautiful porcelain skin this way. Will your friends be upset to see it? I know Martha and Doug will know why it’s there, but will you share with the rest?” 

"Oh, they will already know about it from Martha. Besides, they are all expert interrogators. They would have it out of me in minutes. What are you going to wear? I can try to clean your suit, but I think it’s dry clean only, and I would hate to ruin it. I don’t think any of Andrew’s dress clothes that are here would fit you.” Again with the babbling. I do that when I’m nervous. And him being this close made me nervous, well more excited. But a nervous kind of excited. 

"How about I take Mitch for the walk, and if you don’t mind, I’ll take your car quickly back to Target. I have a bag in the car. What are you wearing?” He asked, tracing circles on my back with his long, capable fingers. 

"Oh, just clothes.” I sighed. I cleared my throat, realizing I sounded like a moron and clarified, “A sweater and a nice pair of jeans. Riding boots. Casual.” 

"Will you wear this beautiful hair down? I wondered yesterday when we met how far it would reach.” He pulled some of it forward, off my back, and played with it between his fingers. 

"Uh, I c-can if you want.” I stuttered. 

"I would like that, but only if that’s what you want. It looks lovely up as well.” He said and planted a kiss on my nose. He grabbed my keys off the counter and headed towards the door, calling Mitch as he went. Mitch came trotting down the hall, halting at Tom’s feet and sitting. Tom clipped the leash on him and they headed out the door. 

I leaned against the counter, pulling the cup of tea he had made me across to my side. I took a sip. Heaven. The man could make a mean cup. I sighed and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to wake up from this dream. He just kept getting more and more unreal. Even my dog liked him. Mitch doesn’t like men, usually. He had hated John. 

I heard the door open, and turned around. Tom poked his head in and tossed me the bag of walnuts. 

"Be right back, love. Save me some walnuts, ok?” He asked, smiling that boyish grin that made my toes curl. "Fuck me, if his smile could do that, imagine what the rest of him could do. Ok, focus, cookies.” I scolded myself, as I set about measuring the ingredients.  



	5. Part 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings - swearing, sexual situations, eating in the shower.

I threw the last of the cookies on the cooling rack. The roast was well on its way to becoming pure deliciousness. I quickly wiped down the counters, then hurried to my bedroom. I made the bed as the shower warmed up. I stepped into the shower, marveling at the difference in my mindset from last time I got in there. 

I washed my hair and applied conditioner, letting it sit as I put my foot up on the bench and started to shave my leg. “Better to be prepared,” I thought with a smile. I began to sing Silent Night. 

“You have a beautiful voice. Do you sing often?“ Tom asked. 

I whipped around, trying to cover myself, thanking God for the steamed up glass. 

“Tom!” I squeaked. “Usually when I’m alone in the shower.” I said awkwardly. 

“Ah, so not when you have a friend in the shower with you?” He said as he opened the door. He was eating one of my cookies. 

He looked down at the cookie and sheepishly smiled. “These are really good, I couldn’t resist the smell when I came back. Mitch really likes car rides, doesn’t he? He’s a good dog.” He said conversationally as he stepped into the shower. 

I just stood there in disbelief. He’s just talking away about cookies and my dog, like it’s not odd at all that he just commandeered my shower. Not that I really minded all that much. 

He offered me a bite of the cookie. I mutely shook my head. “Ah, you’re missing out, darling. You really are a good baker. Or at least cookie maker. I’d have to sample more of your goodies, to make sure you were a good baker. Purely scientific research, of course.“ He smiled as he popped the rest of the cookie into his mouth. 

“I once did a thing with Cookie Monster. Poor fellow. I think I understand him on a deeper level than most people. It’s so hard to resist a good cookie.” He moved closer to me, backing me up against the wall, so that we both were under the shower head. He was standing so close, but not touching me at all. The anticipation was killing me.

"Here, let’s finish rinsing out your hair,” he murmured. He turned me around and began to run his fingers through my hair, getting out the last of the conditioner. It was hypnotizing, the feel of his hands on my head and in my hair.

He began rubbing his hands up and down my arms, trailing them down my back and settling them on my hips. He turned me around to face him. Jesus, he was amazing. 

I started to giggle when I looked at his face. I couldn’t help it. He had chocolate smudged at the corner of his mouth. He looked like an overgrown child. It was too cute. 

He had started to rub his hands up and down my arms again, pulling me closer. 

"And what is so funny?” He asked, waggling his eyebrows at me. 

“You’ve got a bit of chocolate…” I reached up on my tip toes and kissed the chocolate away. “Right there.” I finished, pulling back to look at his face. 

I could feel his desire against my stomach. Hard and insistent. I’m not naive enough not to know that it doesn’t take much for men to get excited, but I believed he truly wanted me. 

“Rose, what time do we have to be at this party?” He asked, his voice strained. 

“Uhm, it starts at 3. And we have to pick up Norma and Sarah. But they live together and it’s on the way to the General’s house. Why, what time is it now?” I asked, taken aback by the sudden normal conversation. 

He sort of growled, leaned down and kissed me, hard. It was still gentle, he didn’t hurt me at all, but I could feel his barely leashed passion behind that kiss. Good lord, I wanted this man so much. 

When he pulled away, I was a little disorientated. He smirked at me. 

“It’s almost 2. I don’t have the time to do what I want to do to you right now, and I always do things properly. Our first time isn’t going to be rushed. At all. I want to have unlimited time with you.” He dropped his gaze to my lips and leaned in once more to nibble them gently, eliciting a soft moan from me. 

“Oh, darling. We are going to have fun later.” He winked at me and reached for the soap and began to wash. I didn’t want to leave him, but I had to get ready. I hadn’t realized what time it was. That happens a lot when I’m in the kitchen.

I reluctantly stepped out of the shower and went into my bedroom. I felt a tingling in my stomach as I looked at the bed. Would we be there, together, later? I could just imagine him moving over me, his muscles straining in his arms…. “You poor, sad, deprived girl. Focus and get your head out of the gutter.” I mumbled to myself. 

“Having naughty thoughts, love?” I heard from the doorway. I peeked over my shoulder, and there he was in all his glory… well, with a towel wraped around it, anyways. 

“I should have known. You’re always there when I do something embarrassing. How is that, when we have known each other for less than 24 hours…. Oh, when I say it like that, it makes me feel kind of wrong. I’m really not that kind of girl, as cliché as that sounds.” Babbling, Rose, babbling.

“I think that our situation is slightly different than, say, if we had met at the pub. You can't go through something like what happened last night and not bond with someone. To risk sounding like a romantic fool, I think that we were meant to meet. It’s almost like our souls are old friends. As for the embarrising things, please don’t stop. I find them endearing. And entertaining.” He came across the room and pulled a bag off the floor and opened it on the bed. He pulled out a pair of black jeans and a dark blue dress shirt. 

I made myself turn around and head into the walk in closet. I pulled my favorite cream colored sweater off the shelf and a pair of jeans out of a drawer. I went back into the bedroom to see that Tom was not there. I padded over to my dresser and pulled out a matching bra and panty set, because, well, might as well be prepared, right?

I hurried back to the bathroom and looked in the mirror for the first time since last night. I knew it was going to be bad, but I hadn’t expected this. The whole upper left side of my face was purple. It started at my cheekbone and went up to the hairline and back into the hair behind my ear. My ear was even bruised! I didn’t think that was possible. I was studying my purple ear when Tom reappeared. 

He stood in the doorway, looking like a statue. A georgeous statue. An angry, georgous statue. He came to stand behind me. I looked at him in the mirror, watching him watching me. He looked almost predatory. 

“I don’t think that make up will cover this.” I joked. He didn’t look amused. I started to brush out my hair. “I’m not going to have time to dry it, I’ll have to wear it up.” I said, changing the subject. I parted my hair at the side and pulled it back, pinning it up in the back. 

“I think I like that idea better. Then I can feel like I’m the only one that gets to see your hair down. Very old fashioned. I like that. I noticed you have a lot of romance novels. Whats your favorite?” He asked, as he leaned down and began kissing my neck. 

“Uhm, ah, I-I think that my favorite of all time would be, oh my, that’s nice.” I closed my eyes and focused on what he was doing with his tongue to my ear. 

“Your favorite of all time…?” He prompted, nuzzling behind said ear. 

Good lord, this man literaly drove me to distraction. “Jane Eyre. I’ve read it so many times, I could recite it, I think. I love the classics, Jane Austen, of course. But I have a secret love for paperback romance novels, like bodice rippers.” I giggled after I said that phrase. I cannot believe I told this beautiful man that I loved to read smut novels. “Some of them are actually quite good. I love Juila Quinn. Shes amazing. Hers aren’t really bodice rippers, more a romance with dirty parts.”

“I've read some Jane Austen, but not Jane Eyre, I’m afraid. I’ll have to do that.” he said absently, running his fingers along the edge of my towel at the top of my back. I tried to focus and put on some eye liner and mascara. A little eye shadow. I skipped foundation because, well, it wouldn’t make a difference. No more than I do on a normal day. I didn’t think that he would be the kind of man that would prefer a woman with tons of makeup caked on. 

“I’ll go walk Mitch quickly, shall I?” He asked. 

“Oh that would be great, thanks! He is coming with us, General adores him, but its about a half hour ride, and we have to stop to pick up the twins.”

“Twins and a General. You have some interesting friends, I think.” He smiled at me as he headed out of the bathroom. 

“You have no idea.” I chuckled to myself. 

I finished getting dressed, and pulled on my old brown, knee high riding boots. They were so comfortable, so worn, they were like a second skin. I went back to my spare room for the presents that were sitting on the bed in a tote bag. I grabbed the baskets and the scarf I had purchased the night before, placing the scarf in a gift bag. I had a thought and dug around in the closet, finding what I was looking for and placing that in a gift bag as well. Tom came back in with Mitch, who was carrying a large rock in his mouth. 

“I didn’t have the heart to take it away. Little guy was so proud of himself.” He laughed. 

“Oh, its ok. He has a rock garden under the bed in the spare bedroom. I used to throw them back outside, but he would whine at the door until I let him out to get it again. I gave up. Can you hold this for me?” I asked, holding out one of the baskets. 

“Of course.” He said, grabbing the basket. I pulled a pink patterned patchwork cover out of a bag and pulled it over the basket. 

“That’s, uh, interesting.” He said. Clearly he had no idea what it was.

“You’ll see, it will make sense later.” I smiled at him. He is too damn cute. I cant even. We repeated the process with the remaining basket, with a purple patterned patchwork cover. 

I placed the baskets in the tote with all the other gifts and handed it to Tom to put in the car. 

I went into the kitchen and packed the cookies into a box and transferred that roast into a large crock pot. Tom brought those down to the car as well. 

I was pulling on my coat and scarf when Tom came back in the kitchen. His cheeks were red from the cold. 

He wrapped his arms around me and put his forehead to mine. “Excuse my rudeness, Miss Rose. I never asked you if you minded if I spend Christmas with you. I just assumed that you feel the same pull that I do. I really hope that you are feeling this, I don’t know, this thing between us, like I am. I think that we could be amazing together. Look at how quickly we fell into domestic bliss together. I know that in a few days, I will have to go back to filming, and you will have to go back to work, but it doesn’t mean that we cant make this work, does it? Please tell me that you are willing to try this?” 

I looked up into his eyes, so blue, so earnest. I could live in them. They were life. I thought about what he had just said. It was true, how quickly we became comfortable with each other, and it just seemed, right. I nodded. 

He grinned at me, leaned down and tenderly kissed the corner of my lips. 

“Lets go celebrate Christmas Eve.” He said, pulling me out the door. 

“I cannot wait to meet your twins, what are their names again? Norma and Sophie?”

We were in the car, Mitch was in the cargo part in the back. He was bouncing up and down. He really does love the car, I thought. 

“Norma and Sarah. You will like them I think. They are very…original. The General will like you as soon as he hears you talk. His wife, Bess, she passed away 3 years ago. She was from England. He keeps saying he’s going to go over there, just so he can hear her accent again. I’m not sure which part of England she was from though, London, maybe? Her accent wasn’t as refined as yours. She was lovely, though. One of the most amazing women I have ever met. They were so in love. It was heartbreaking when she died. She was so sick. He was a wreck. We all were. That’s actually when the G.O. Christmas Eve Party started, a few months after she passed.” I said 

“The G.O. Christmas Eve Party? What does G.O. stand for?”

I just smiled and said, “You’ll see.”

I pulled up to a small, red ranch house with window boxes and a bright yellow door. The front door flew open and a tiny elderly woman stood there. She had on a bright red sweater with a blinking Christmas tree emblazoned on the front. She had a tiger striped santa hat on. 

“Goodness, Rosie! I didn’t think you were coming! Its not like you to be late! I was worried you got into an accident, or you forgot us!!!” She called as she came down the ramp. Behind her came an identical tiny elderly woman, but she had a candy cane on her bright green sweater, and her hat was leopard print. 

“Oh, hush Sarah! Rosie would never forget us!” Norma called, rolling her eyes at her sister. 

“She thinks if someone is five minutes late that the worst has happened. Oh look at your face, child. Of course Martha called me this morning to tell me what happened. No offense, my dear, but I never cared for him anyways. He didn’t treat you like the gift that you are. He was such a prick. Oh, well then. Who do we have here?” Norma said, just noticing Tom, stand by the back door with it open. 

“Norma, Sarah, this is Tom Hiddleston. Tom, my very good friends, Norma and Sarah Leblanc.”

He took each of there hands and put his lips to their knuckles, and said “Ladies, the pleasure is mine.”

They tittered and batted their eyes at him. He helped Sarah in the car, then came around and helped Norma in. "By the way, dear, I thought you were brilliant as Loki. That character had spunk, job well done.” Norma said as she got in the car. Once their walkers were packed in, he leaned into me, smiling, and said “G.O. stands for?”

“Golden Oldies.” I said, biting my lip, trying not to laugh. . 

“Ah. Well. After her compliment to my acting skills, Norma pinched my bottom. This is going to be a fun night.“ He grinned


	6. Part 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: language

As we pulled out of their driveway, Sarah leaned forward and touched Tom’s hair. 

“Oh, Norma! It’s just like Teddy’s hair, so soft. Feel it! It’s the wrong color, though. Do you know Teddy, young man? The General does. He served with him in the war. He should be home soon. Are you taking our Rosie to the prom? She’s been a good girl, I think father will let her go, and I’ll make her dress for her. I think she will look lovely in navy blue. I have just the fabric, it came from China. ” Sarah rambled. 

“Jesus, Sarah, stop molesting the poor kid.” Norma scolded, though she smiled at her with obvious affection. 

I looked at Tom out of the corner of my eye and whispered, “She has dementia. Teddy was their brother, he died in World War II. He did serve with the General, though. And you don’t have to take me to prom.” I laughed, though deep down, part of me really wanted to go to prom with him. 

Tom turned in his seat and smiled at Sarah. 

“I never had the honor to meet your brother, Miss Sarah, he must be a very brave man. And I agree, Rosie will look ravishing in navy blue. Are you a seamstress?”

“Oh my ever loving God. Could he be any more perfect? Seriously, just strike me dead right now, because I don’t want my image of this man to ever change.” I thought to myself, smiling as I listened to the two of them. 

We pulled up to an old, blue colonial house, with large oak trees in the front yard. I parked the car by the front door and hopped out to help Norma out of the back, while Tom attended to Sarah. 

Norma grabbed my hand, and leaned into me whispering, “Jesus Christ, Rosie. You need to tell me what the hell is going on here! That’s Tom Hiddleston, for fuck’s sake! And he’s talking with my senile sister about taking you to prom. And coming to a G. O. Party! I’ve seen a lot of shit in my day, but this is definitely a top ten. How did you find him? He’s so good with her. If I’d been born with a soul, I might have cried!” She cackled. 

I looked at Tom, who was leading Sarah up the walk. She was chatting animatedly and he seemed to hanging on her every word. 

“He sort of found me. And I didn’t know who he was when we met. He was there when John attacked me. Norma, I think he may have saved my life.” I started to choke up as I said that, thinking about how I might have died last night, and this man, who it was turning out, was amazing inside and out, had protected me, and seemed to want me. 

Norma patted my hand and said, “It’s ok, Lovey. We’ll talk about this later, but how the hell could you not know who he was? He’s been all over the place in the past few years. Such a looker, too. You and those damn books.” She mumbled, as she grabbed her walker and headed over to Doug, who had come down the walk towards her. She kissed his cheek and headed towards the house. Doug said hello, and grabbed the roast and the cookies out of the back. 

I let Mitch out of the back and he ran up to the house, barking happily. Tom came back and helped me with the rest of the bags. 

“What a sweet woman. Sad that she can’t remember things, but maybe she’s happier for it. Norma is fantastic as well. She’s like that crazy aunt that scares you, but you think she’s fabulous anyways.” He laughed. 

“I love them. Norma takes such good care of her. Sarah’s been getting worse in the past few months. Dementia can be very frustrating. Not just to the caretakers, but to the person that has it as well. Imagine not knowing anyone, or that some of your family members are no longer alive, or that you are 87, not 18. And some days, having such clarity, it’s almost as if nothing is the matter with you. It’s really tough for Norma, and that woman has steel in her veins, but they are in their late 80s. She refuses to put her in a home, and she’s her primary caretaker. We all try to help as much as we can, but there is only so much you can do… What?” I asked, because he was staring at me with a goofy grin on his face. 

“Rose, you really are an incredible woman, do you realize that? You have so much love for these people. You have a very big heart, it’s refreshing to see someone who really cares about other people. Someone who’s there for people who don’t have anyone.“ He reached up and tucked an errant curl behind my ear. “You really are lovely.” He whispered as he leaned down and kissed me gently. His hands had made their way to the small of my back and were tracing slow circles. 

“Rosie, is that octopus bothering you? I’ll go get my gun if you want.” Barked a man from the porch. You could tell that he was advanced in years, but there was still a vitality to him. He positively exuded energy.

I laughed a little and called out, “No, that’s alright, General. Thank you for the offer, though.” 

“Well you keep it in mind. You just say the word, my dear.” He turned his sharp eyes on Tom, who looked more than a little uncomfortable. “As for you, come here and let me shake you hand, young man. I want to thank you for saving our Rosie last night. She’s the light of day to a lot of us old timers, and we’d have been lost with out her meddling.” He chuckle as he shook Tom’s hand vigorously. 

“Yes, sir, she is an amazing woman. I did what anyone else would have done, I hope. I’m just glad I was there.” Tom said modestly.

“Nonsense, Doug told me you dislocated that punk’s jaw. Good man. Coulda used men like you back on the front lines. Come inside and have a drink. You like whiskey?” He asked as he turned about and limped into the house. 

I called out after him, “You’re not supposed to be drinking that!”

Tom looked at me and shrugged, grinning, and followed the General inside. I shook my head and went in after them. I stopped in the hallway and saw the General introducing Tom to some of the G. O. Members. Sarah was already ensconced on the sofa with a blanket across her knees and Mitch, who had his head on her lap. Doug was shaking Tom’s hand and slapping him on the back, saying “You should have seen it, fellas! He hog tied the bastard with Christmas ribbon!” Also in the living room were three other elderly men, Phil, Stewart and David. They were all laughing and shaking Tom’s hand as well. He looked slightly embarrassed, but pleased with himself. 

I headed down the hall to the kitchen, where Martha was commanding the ship. She had Norma shelling peas at the table along with May, and she was stirring a large pot on the stove. Over at the island, Irene and Peggy were putting the finishing touches on some pies. The women all stopped and looked at me when I came in the door, smiling at me. Irene and Peggy came over to me and hugged me, fussing about my face and telling me old home remedies that they swore would get rid of the bruise.

“Mmhmm, but Miss Thing over here won’t be wanting to smell like liver and fish oil from that paste you talking about, Irene. Not when she’s entertaining that dashing, young Englishman.” Martha said with a smirk.

I know my face was burning, but I tried to just laugh it off. The girls all laughed at her comment. 

“Besides, these women are my friends. They’ve all been there at some point, I’m sure?” I thought. 

“It’s nice to see you too, Martha. I’m feeling much better, thanks for asking.” I shot sarcastically at her. She blew me a kiss. 

“Rosie, can you put these in the oven?” Asked Peggy, gesturing to the pies. She moved over to the table to grab the peas, and handed them to Martha. I grabbed the three pies and put them in the preheated oven.

“We are just about ready, just waiting on the potatoes, and the peas. Everything else is done.” Said Martha. As she passed by me on her way in to the dining room, she gave me a peck on the cheek. I followed her. 

“How you doing, Honey? More importantly, how was he?” She giggled. Martha actually giggled. She was moving around the table, filling the glasses with water. I began taking the silverware out of the box on the sideboard, setting each place. 

I stared at her in disbelief for a minute and said, loftily, “ I wouldn’t know. Doctors orders to not do anything strenuous, you remember.” 

“Oh, Sweetness! You listened to me? I was being an asshole! I can’t believe you listened to me.” 

“Well, he listened to you. I think you scare him a bit, actually.” I laughed.

“Me? I’m a fucking delightful pussycat! What’s to be scared of?” She finished filling the water glasses. 

“You can be, I don’t know, strong, I guess. If someone doesn’t know you, that may be intimidating. But he did say he liked you, that you’re "real”. 

“Fancy that. Well, go grab Norma and May, and then tell the boys we are almost ready, they can guide in Miss Sarah.” I did her bidding. She’s such a mother hen, she was in her glory when she was bossing people around. Even if most of them were 40 years older than her. She loved our G. O. Parties, and all the members. We had formed our own little group, and I spent most of the holidays with them, my family being pretty scattered. 

I headed towards the living room, but stopped in the hallway when I heard the General say my name. “She’s not the kind of girl that you can wine and dine and take out parking, if you know what I mean, boy. She’s a true lady. Rosie deserves to have a good man. I like you, I think you are a decent, honest man. I’m just saying that I don’t know how your lifestyle is going to fit with hers. I know this is jumping the gun, but she’s been through the wringer, that one, and we feel that is our duty to protect her. I want to know that your intentions towards her are true, and your not going to use her and leave her tomorrow. Because I may be an old man, but I’ll kill you. And these other old bastards will help me do it. See Stewart over there? He used to be a mortician. He knows how to make things look like an accident.” 

There was a chorus of “Here ,here!” from the others, and a chuckle from Stewart.

Doug interjected and said "I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, General. Listen, Tom, you know what he’s getting at. Were not saying we’re gonna chase you to the church with a shot gun. Rosie’s a big girl, and she can make her own choices, but we just want to make sure you understand. She isn’t like those Hollywood women. She’s a good kid, she’s got a big heart, and I think she’s starting to fall for you, buddy. Just be careful with her. Or I’ll have to arrest these old coots for attempted murder.“

I was feeling so many emotions at once. Touched, embarrassed, pissed, amused.

Tom cleared his throat and said, "Guys, I really appreciate how much you obviously care for Rose. I know that we haven’t known each other that long-”

I didn’t want to hear what he was going to say and I didn’t want them to know I had heard their conversation. I went back into the dining room, as Irene was coming in with the roast on a platter. I went over to Norma and asked to go get the guys. I sat down in my seat, and hoped that my face didn’t display my conflicted emotions. If anything, embarrassment was winning out. He would run, screaming for the hills, as soon as this night was over.

 




	7. Part 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings? Of course, the use of foul language…. it’s the only vocabulary I have. Lots of fluff and dirty bits (sexual situations) lie ahead…. beware. I hope you enjoy. I was giggling and blushing like a moron the whole time I wrote it!

Walnuts, part 7

“Rosie is pregnant.”

There had been a companionable silence as everyone was tucking into their meal. Twelve heads whipped around to face Sarah, who had made the pronouncement. 

“Sarah, that’s not true!” I squeaked.

“Of course not darling, you’d have to get laid for that to happen. You’re not the bloody Virgin Mary.” Norma said, with a wink.

“Fuck my life,” I thought, wanting to sink into the floor. 

Everyone laughed and went back to eating and the chatting resumed among neighbors. I was sitting next to Tom and David, Sarah being on the other side of David. I leaned forward so I could see her. She smiled at me and said, “You’re going to be a great mother Rosie. Teddy will be home soon. He’ll be so happy. Have you written to him, or will you tell him when he returns? I’m so happy I’ll be an auntie. Don’t worry, I can babysit for you after school.” David patted her arm and smiled at me, and said, “Just go with it, dear. Best not to burst the bubble, so to speak.” I could feel Tom looking at me, but I couldn’t bring myself to look at him. I moved the food around on my plate, having lost my appetite between the conversation I had overheard earlier and Sarah’s overactive imagination. Tom cleared his throat quietly, and moved his hand over to my leg. He began to run his hand up and down on my thigh, in a comforting motion. I managed a peak at him and he gave me a small, sweet smile. “Eh, how’s the roast?“ I asked him stupidly. 

“Oh, it’s really delicious, love. Everything is. You don’t seem to be enjoying your meal?” He said quietly. 

“I think I’m just worn out from the past 24 hours.” I muttered. 

“Yes, I would imagine you are. Perhaps a walk after dinner?” He suggested. “The General was saying he wanted to have a fire, but hadn’t been able to get firewood. I’m sure we could find some in the woods out back?“ 

“That sounds like a great idea!” Said May and Stewart in unison. They were seated across from us. 

“So, you want to join us?” I asked, knowing full well what they were up to. 

“Oh, no, my legs…you know how bad my legs are, Rosie!” Exclaimed May, while Stewart nodded in agreement. 

“Meddling old people, leave the kids alone. I’m sure poor Tom has already had enough of us to last him a lifetime. But it would be nice if you’d go get some wood! It’s not Christmas Eve without a fire!” Said the General. 

“I think Rosie will indeed be getting the wood.” Muttered Norma, with a twinkle in her eyes. Tom stifled a laugh. God, I love and hate her in equal measures. 

“Shush up, you saucy old minx!” Chided the General, chuckling. 

I literally wanted to die. I just stared around the table at these people I thought I knew so well, who I had thought were kind and caring people. But no, they were all assholes. Geriatric assholes. Hell bent on making me look like a fool and die of embarrassment. I mean, I still loved them, I just wanted them to go to hell. They all smiled back at me. 

“Excuse me, I’m going to check on the pies.” I mumbled, and shot out of my chair toward the kitchen. 

I stood inside the kitchen door, breathing a sigh of, relief? No. Brief pardon from imminent death of embarrassment. Something like that.

I went over to the oven, opening it and poking half heartedly at the pies. I knew they weren’t done yet, but I had needed an escape. 

Tom must think I’m a freak. That I must be desperate. To have these old people trying to set us up. 

“Oh, God! I hope he doesn’t think I put them up to it. Could this get any worse?” I groaned, my face in my hands, as I leaned against the counter. 

“Penny for your thoughts, love.” 

“Ask and you shall receive. Fuck. Fuck, double, triple fuck.” I wailed in my head. 

I turned around and looked at him. God damnit. There he was. Looking far to fine in the General’s kitchen. 

“I’m fine.” I said, throwing him a smile. 

He smirked at me and came over to the counter. He put his hands at my waist and leaned down, kissing the side of my neck. 

“I know she doesn’t know what she’s saying,” he murmured as he moved to the other side. “And I’m actually a little flattered that they seem so keen for us to be alone together. They all love you, and want what’s best for you.”

“I-I-I’m so sorry. You must think I’m such a weirdo.“ I sighed, he was doing that thing to my earlobe again, and it was making me go cross eyed. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but stop, please.” I was surprised, and to be honest, a little disappointed by how immediately he stepped back. 

“I apologize. I’ve been too forward.” He said, a look, almost like a mask of polite solicitude falling over his features. 

“No! I just can’t think straight when you’re touching me, makes my brain go fuzzy and I wanted to say something to you with out sounding like a complete ass for once.” I explained. 

The boyish grin sprang back on to his face and he stepped forward again, putting his hands back on my waist. 

“You can’t think straight when I touch you? Forgive me, but I find that very intriguing. I wonder, what would happen if I…” He trailed off, as he gripped my waist and hoisted me up onto the counter. He stepped between my legs, pulling them around his hips. 

“Tom!” I gasped.

“Yes, darling, get used to saying my name. You’ll be saying it a lot later.” He chuckled as my eyes glazed over while he ran his hands along my thighs, and around to my bottom, gripping it and pulling me closer to him. 

“We can’t do this here!” I hissed at him. 

“Hmm? What? No, of course not. I just find you so irresistible, love. I’m finding it harder and harder to keep my hands off you. I’m not normally like a randy school boy. I’m sorry.” He didn’t step back, but his hands stopped moving. 

“What did you want to say to me?” He asked. 

I stared at him for a moment. “What did he want from me? He couldn’t possibly really be interested. I’m just a distraction.” I thought. He started running his hands along my legs again, smiling. 

“Oh for fucks sake, Tom! Why are you doing this? How you can possibly still want me, or how you even did in the first place is beyond me. The events of last night aside, I then dragged you to spend your Christmas Eve with a bunch of crazy old people, who have threatened you with death if you get involved with me. Yes, I heard them, the old fools. And, then, because that wasn’t bad enough, they basically confirm what you must have already figured out on your own, that I’m a fucking mess.“

I stopped my tirade, searching his eyes, looking for an answer. I wanted to be wrong. I wanted him to really see something in me that was worth hanging around for. All I saw was guarded curiosity. I sighed. 

“Why are you here? Why did you stay? Do you feel obligated? Is it the gentleman in you? Am I a damsel in distress? Or is it that you think I’m easy? That what John said last night was true? I assure you, from what he always said, I’m not that good in bed, if that’s what your after. And I don’t sleep around. There isn’t anything about me that should make you want to stay. I’m not like the women you work with. I’m not glamorous, I’m not beautiful. I’m not worldly. I’ve never left New England, for Christ’s sake!“ At this point, I was so worked up, that I felt the tears pooling in my eyes. I pushed him away from me and hopped off the counter, and practically ran to the back door. 

Mitch was laying next to it and jumped to his feet. I opened the door and strode out into the back yard. Mitch came running after me as I moved toward the path that led to a small pond. 

“I cannot believe I just said that to him. What the fuck is wrong with me? I’m not usually this dramatic, running, crying from a room. He must really think I’m nuts now.”

Mitch barked and ran past me down the path. There was snow on the ground, but it wasn’t as cold as it had been. I was still wishing I had my coat. 

I walked further into the woods, coming to a small pond, where there was a bench under a large tree off to the side. I sat on the bench, ugly crying. 

“This is it. I’m going to die old and alone. No man will ever want this mess. I just chased away the most handsome, lovely, sexy man who had ever deigned to touch me. Who cares if he just wanted sex, it probably would have been amazing, anyways. You’re a fucking moron, Rosie Girl.” I scolded my self. 

I sat there, watching Mitch, finally starting to calm down. I wiped the tears from my face, taking big breaths of the crisp air. 

“I think you want to be alone, but it’s cold out here, darling, so I just brought your coat.” Came a voice from behind me. 

I sat up straight on the bench, embarrassment coursing through my veins. 

“Tom, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that… I didn’t really mean that you… fuck. You can take my car if you want to go. I can get a ride.” I buried my head in my hands and sighed.

I felt my jacket being draped over my shoulders. He didn’t say a word. I sat there for another ten minutes, not moving. 

“He left.” I thought. “Of course he did, you fucking lunatic! You would have left, too. You wish you could leave yourself here, you crazy bitch!” I mentally yelled. 

I let out a groan and opened my eyes. I gasped. He was still there. Standing patiently in front of me. He didn’t look irritated, or upset. He had a small smile on his lips. 

“May I?” He asked, gesturing to the bench next to me. I nodded mutely. 

“Thank you, love.” He said as he sat down. He took my hand in his and twined his long fingers with mine. 

We sat there. I don’t know how long. It felt like an eternity, but seemed to last only seconds before he spoke again. 

“I feel like I must address a few things, for both our sanity,” he started off. “First of all, I want you to stop berating yourself. You have a right to have some trust issues. You are not, as you keep saying, a mess. You are strong. You have one of the biggest hearts I’ve had the pleasure to witness in action. You are beautiful, even with half your face purple.” He joked. "You have a light in you that draws people."

“I am here because I wanted to be. There is something about you, like I told you already, that pulls me. I feel connected to you on a deeper level. I’m not, as you seem to think, just trying to get into your pants, though, I’ll admit, it is a side goal. I want you, and I’m pretty sure you want me, as well. But it isn’t about making love. I want to see where we can go. Where this relationship, shhh, don’t interrupt,” He put a finger to my lips. “Strange as it may have started, this is a relationship, in one way or another. I want to see where this can go. As your loyal protectors said to me earlier, you’re not like the women I meet in my work. You’re real, and that’s one of the things I’m finding that I really like about you.” 

“Oh, Tom, I’m sorry. I should never have said those things to you. I was just so embarrassed and-” He cut me off with a kiss. 

His kiss was so tender, so gentle. I sighed as he moved his lips on mine. His hands started to move on my body. I moaned. 

He pulled me into his lap, so that I was straddling him. His hands slid under my sweater, cold on my back. He kissed me, with an urgency that made me feel faint. His tongue ran along my bottom lip making me shiver. 

“Darling, is it too cold?” He asked, concern written on his face. 

“Shhh. ” Was all I could manage, as I leaned forward to capture his mouth again, grinding into his lap. 

He groaned and pulled me even closer to him, leaning back against the bench. His hands slid to my breasts, cupping and gently kneading them each in turn. 

My hands were gripping his shoulders, holding on for dear life. I traced my fingers up the back of his neck and into his hair, gently pulling him to me. I reached down to the waist of his pants, the heat between us making me bold. His eyes were smoldering and his breathing was already a little heavy. I wanted him more that I’ve wanted anything in my whole life. He began to fumble with the button and zipper on my jeans. I managed to get his zipper down, and reached into his pants, stroking him. He groaned, his hips bucking forward. 

He was kissing my neck, and he breathed into my ear, “You have no idea what you do to me, darling.”

“Oh, I’ve got a good idea,” I said breathlessly, with a small laugh. 

He shifted me on his lap, pulled off my boots, and lifted me enough to pull my jeans down. He threw them onto the bench. He ran his hands along my bottom, squeezing. One hand came around in between us and began trailing its way up, settling at my most sensitive spot. 

I gasped as he started to slowly move his thumb in a circle. He smiled at me as I bit my lip to stifle a cry. 

“Does that feel good, Love? What about this?” He asked as he slipped his finger into me. I buried my face in his shoulder, biting the fabric of his jacket. 

“Oh my god, you are so ready for me!” He groaned as he stoked the fire burning inside me. 

“Yes, yes. God, Tom I need you. Right now.” I moaned. If his fingers felt this good…

He lifted my hips, and guided himself into me. The feeling of him stretching me, filling me was exquisite. I felt like I would explode from pleasure. 

I began to move on him, he was gripping my hips, pulling me closer with each thrust. I could feel something building. He was saying my name, and whispering soft, lovely words that I couldn’t really hear, but loved anyways. 

I began to move faster, reaching for that feeling I knew was there. As I arched back, I felt myself close around him. I shattered into a million pieces as he bucked up and pulled my hips down to meet his, as he filled me completely. He moaned as he found his release as well. 

I collapsed into his arms and he pulled me close, kissing my forehead, wrapping my jacket around me.


	8. Part 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: as usual. Language. And Fluff.

I had my face buried into his chest, breathing in his scent. I could hear his heart, loud and fast. I could feel mine pounding as well, as I tried to catch my breath. He was running his hands up and down my legs, which were starting to get cold.

“Rose, that was…” He breathed, stopping to pull my chin gently upwards so we were face to face, “That was…God, that was…. I can’t even think straight right now. It was amazing, but better.“ He looked at me for a moment, searching my face “Are you ok?”

I didn’t answer him, because I’m pretty sure I was in a pleasure coma. I couldn’t move. I was just staring at him. 

“Rose….” He was starting to look worried. “Did I hurt you? Rose, can you please answer me?” He gave my shoulders a little shake. 

A small smile started to form on my lips, and I leaned forward and kissed him gently. 

“No, you didn’t hurt me, at all. I was just… basking.” I murmured.

He gave a little laugh, “Basking? As in “Basking in the glow?” 

“I’ve never…” I snuggled my head down into his chest again.

“What? Had sex outside?” He asked, now wrapping his arms around me, pulling me closer. 

“Well, no, but…”

“Had sex on the first date? I know this doesn’t really count as a date, but it’s our first outing together. I’m usually not one for it either, but it’s alright, Love. This is different. You don’t have to be ashamed of it, it was beautiful…” He trailed off because I was shaking my head against his chest. 

“What, then, Darling?” He said, trying to pull me back so he could see my face. 

I burrowed closer to him and took a deep breath. “God, he smells so damn good.” I thought. 

“I’ve never had an orgasm. I didn’t think I could.“ I said quietly into his chest. 

I could feel his body starting to shake. He was holding me tighter, but the shaking continued. I leaned back to look at his face and he was smiling. The bastard was laughing! He was laughing at me. 

I pulled away from him, embarrassed beyond words. I grabbed my jeans and quickly pulled them on, vaguely wondering where my panties had gone. I sat on the bench and started to pull on my boots. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. 

“Oh Darling, I’m sorry. Please, please don’t cry. I’m not laughing at you. Truly, I’m not. Rose.” He reached over and pulled me back into his lap. I tried to pull away from him, but he was much stronger than me, and help me tight. 

“Rose. Look at me.” He commanded. 

I could feel the tears starting to roll down my cheeks, which were on fire after my confession. I took a deep breath, and looked up at his face. His eyes were so damn blue, and his brow was creased in concern. 

“Darling, I was not laughing at you. Please believe me. I was laughing at myself. I thought you were going to say that you had never had such horrible sex or that I had hurt you. I thought it was amazing, and I was worried you didn’t. I was laughing out of relief. I must say, I’m honored to be the only one to have given that to you. Are you alright?” He was holding me so close, I didn’t want to move. 

“I’m not normally this… Emotional. You seem to bring out the best in me.” I said sarcastically. “Yes, I’m fine, I feel like a fool, but I’m fine.” I smiled. 

“Good. We will have to work on another one of those for you, later.“ He said, positively smoldering. “As much as I’d like to stay out here, with just you, we are being rude to our host, I think. We should head back. And I need to find some wood.” He said. “Though I think Norma will know, she kept telling me to go after you and winking.” He laughed and set me on the ground, standing next to me. He slipped his hand in mine. 

“Where’s Mitch? Mitch!” I called. 

He came bounding out of the woods, carrying a rock. He trotted over to us, wagging his tail. 

We headed back towards the house, looking for wood on the way. When we had found enough for a decent fire, we walked back up the path. Walking across the back yard, we could see several faces in the kitchen window, looking out at us. 

I groaned. “They’ve been watching for us. Nosy old biddies.”

“I think I see Stewart and Doug in the mix there.” laughed Tom. 

“Ugh, the guys are worse than the women sometimes." I said, slightly amused.

Tom laughed and shifted the wood in his arms. Doug rushed out to help us. 

“Must’ve been hard to find wood with all the snow.” He said, grinning at me. 

I just rolled my eyes and walked ahead of them into the kitchen. It was so nice and warm and smelled like the pies, which were now on the counter, along with my cookies. 

“Well, now that you’ve had your dessert dear, I think I’ll have mine.” Norma whispered at my elbow. She made her way over to the counter and grabbed a cookie. 

"She’s lucky I love her.” I thought to myself. 

I went to help Peggy. She was cutting the pies and asked me to put on a pot of coffee and put some water in the kettle for tea. 

Once everyone was settled with their dessert and beverages, and the fire was crackling merrily, we started on the presents. 

I had gotten the guys all scarfs, and the women pretty Christmas pins for their coats. Norma and Sarah got the quilt covered baskets, which could hang off the front of their walkers. 

“That’s a pretty smart idea, Love.” Tom said to me. I was sitting on the floor, leaning against his legs. 

“Thanks, it’s something I’ve been working on for a while. Here, this is for you. It’s nothing big. Just made me think of how we met…..” I said sheepishly, handing him a bag. 

He looked at me with that boyish grin, that was becoming so dear to me. He ripped out the tissue paper and pulled out a nutcracker. It was an old one, a little beat up, and missing an ear. 

“It was my grandmothers, she always had it out at Christmas, with a bowl of walnuts next to it…. if you don’t-” he cut me off by reaching down and caressing my cheek. 

“Darling, I love it. My mum has one like this and she always has it out with a bowl of walnuts… that’s why I wanted walnuts… a reminder of home. Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek. 

I looked around, and was met with smiles and nods. I looked back at Tom and he was playing with the lever on the back, making it talk to Sarah, who was laughing. 

I sighed, content. The General and Martha were over at Bess’s old piano, trying to find some Christmas music. Phil and Stewart were telling old stories, making the girls laugh. David was sleeping in his chair. 

It was a good night. 

“I think it’s time to get this show on the road, Rosie.” Norma said from her perch on the window seat. “It’s starting to snow.” 

Everyone agreed, packed up, and said their goodbyes, and headed out into the snowy night. 

Tom helped Norma and Sarah into my car as I got Mitch into the back. 

“Teddy, are you going to stay at our house? We have the spare room.” Sarah said from the back. 

“Oh, for fucks sake, Sarah! He’s not-” Norma started, but at the look on Sarah’s face, she couldn’t bring herself to finish. 

“It’s ok Norma,” Tom said quietly. “Thank you, Sarah, but I think it best if I go with Rose. She needs my help.”

“I’ll bet she does.” Cackled Norma. Tom chuckled quietly. 

“Fuck my life.” I thought, but I wouldn’t change her for the world. 

We pulled up to their house, Tom jumped out and started helping Sarah to the door. 

“Rosie, let me give you a piece of advice.” Norma said, leaning in to speak quietly to me. 

“Norma, I don’t need advice on sex, thanks though. Or that he will only break my heart, I don’t really need that conversation either.”

She looked affronted. “I was going to say,” she said, putting her nose in the air, “don’t let him get away. The boys a keeper, and not just because he’s gorgeous, rich and famous. He’s got a heart, and a big one, too. I bet that’s not all that’s big!” She giggled. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Merry Christmas.” She kissed me in the cheek, turned and headed up the walk, leaving me speechless. 

“How could this work? I know it’s amazing right now, but how can this possibly go on?” I thought to myself, doubt creeping in again. Then I looked up and saw Tom striding towards me, snow clinging to his hair.

“Ready to go home, love?” I have never been more ready for anything in my life. I smiled at him and got back in the car.


	9. Part 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Fluff and expletives. Best of both worlds. :)

As we made our way up the winding road towards my apartment my phone started going off, Here Comes the Sun ringing out loudly over the soft Christmas music. 

“Would you like me to get it for you, Love?’ Tom asked.

"Yeah, its in my jacket pocket, who could be calling me?” I wondered and he reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. 

“It’s Doug.” He said as he looked at the screen. “Hey Doug. Yes, she’s driving. Really? But, why? But is that enough? Ok, I’ll tell her. Alright, yes, Merry Christmas to you too.”

“What could he possibly want? We literally just left him!”

“Rose, John’s made bail. I guess his parents paid to get him out. Doug just wanted to let you know. He said that there is a restraining order against him, he isn’t supposed to come near you. Darling, are you ok?” He was looking at me with concern in his eyes. 

“He’s out?” I breathed. “How could they let him out? He was going to… He wanted to…” I trailed off. My hands were gripped to the steering wheel, my knuckles were white. 

“Pull over the car, Darling.” He said gently. 

“I’m fine.” I snapped. My mind was racing. “How could he have gotten out? Didn’t Doug say they were going to charge him with attempted murder? He didn’t know where my apartment was. He had been drunk, he would have relized what a huge mistake he had made by now, surely.” I thought rapidly. 

“Darling…”

“Tom, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m ok, really. It doesn’t matter that he’s out. He will have come to his senses. Besides, he has no idea where I live now. He wouldn’t come to my work, Dr. W knows who he is, and Alex would kill him himself if he saw him and he knows it. And I’ll have Mitch after you are g-….”

I turned to look at him. He seemed tense, watching me closely, waiting to see if would finish. 

“Gone. After you are gone. When you leave. I’ll be ok. You don’t have to worry about me. Don’t feel like you need to protect me.” I said, staring out the windshield. I could feel him staring at me. 

I looked over at him and his face was stone. He was looking at me hard. I swallowed loudly and looked back out the windshield. 

“What did he do to you?” He asked quietly. “What did he do that made you feel so unworthy of happiness? Why do you keep fighting this? This must be the fifth time we’ve had this conversation. I swear, had I know what a bastard he was, I wouldn’t have stopped at dislocating his jaw. Rose…”

I didn’t answer him. I didn’t know what to say. How could I tell him how I felt?

He was quiet as I pulled up the driveway. I parked the car behind his Jag.

“Where did that come from?” I asked, finally looking at him. He was still looking at me with that same tense, searching look on his face. 

“I had it brought here. The rental people were very obliging.” He said, his eyes boring into mine. 

“Oh, I see. So, I’ll go grab your bag for you then?” I couldn’t quite hide the tears in my voice. 

“Only if you want me to go. Darling. Rose, is that what you want?” 

I stared at him. God, I didn’t want this glorious man to walk out of my life, like nothing had happened. I wanted to grab onto him with both hands and never let go. But was he staying because he felt the need to protect me? Would he have left if Doug hadn’t called, if John was still in jail? I couldn’t stop the tears from welling in my eyes. 

“Rose, Darling. What do you want?” He asked gently.

I looked out the front window, at the back of the beautiful car in front of us. I took a shakey breath and looked back at him, forcing myself to meet his eyes. 

“I want you to stay, but not because I’m some mess you feel the need to fix, or a damsel in distress that needs protecting. I will be fine. I want you more than anything, more than the air I breathe. I don’t know why I keep pushing you away, I feel like I don’t know anything anymore. My whole life has been flipped upside down in the last 24 hours. I think maybe I just cant believe that you’re real. I already told you, not to make promises that you can’t keep. You said last night that you will never hurt me, but what if you do, even if you have good intentions? I’ve been through a lot of shit in the past year, as my geriatric meddlers told you earlier, and I don’t know if my soul can handle anything else. If you want to be with me, I want to be with you, desperately, but don’t stay because you feel obligated. John will not come back for me. He’s not that stupid. Well, he’s pretty stupid, but even for him that would be pretty bad.” He chuckled at that, and reached out, touching my cheek. 

“Darling, I don’t want to change a thing about you. But, I really want to stop having this conversation over and over. I want you. I want your mind, I want your body, I want your soul. I want YOU. While I do want to protect you, its not because you are a damsel in distress, as you put it. Its because you are precious to me, yes, even after only such a short time of knowing you. I want to be with you. You, just as you are.”

He leaned over and kissed me gently on the nose. 

“Shall we go up? The snow is really starting to come down.” He asked, matters settled as far as he was concerned. 

I nodded, getting out of the car. I still had my doubts, they were screaming in my head. I told them to shut the fuck up. They muttered a little, and then stopped. 

As we got into the kitchen, Mitch shook his coat off, and pattered down the hall with his new rock. I threw my keys on the counter and went over to the living room. I turned on the Christmas tree and my little electric fireplace. Tom stood in the doorway, watching me. I flipped on the radio, Christmas tunes softly filled the room. 

I smiled at him as I passed him on my way into the kitchen. I went over to the pantry and pulled out a cookbook and set it on the counter. 

“What are you making?” He asked curiously, pulling a chair out from the kitchen table and sitting down. 

“Christmas tradition in my family.” I said wistfully. “Orange cinnamon rolls. Make the dough the night before, bake them on Christmas morning and eat them while opening presents.”

“Where is your family? You mentioned a brother. Are your parents still around?” He asked as he stood up and came over to the counter. 

“Oh, yes. My brother took his wife and kids to Disney for Christmas. My parents went with them. They don't live around here, though. . They had asked me to go, but I couldn’t leave work for 2 weeks. We are a little short staffed right now.”

“I’m glad you didn’t go.” He said quietly. I nodded my agreement as I flipped through my cookbook. 

“Do you want some wine?” I asked absentmindedly as I read the recipe to myself.

He went over to my wine rack, and began looking through the bottles, selecting a nice red. He opened the bottle and poured us each a glass. 

“Can you put some ice in mine? I’m tacky and drink my red wine with ice.” I laughed. 

“Oh, the shame!” he said. He went over to the fridge and got some ice, dropping the cubes into my glass. He came to stand behind me, placing my glass next to the cookbook. His free hand found its way to my waist. I sighed in contentment. 

“So, Orange Cinnamon Rolls? I’ve never had them, and I like to think I’m a bit of a dessert connoisseur.” He chuckled. 

“I think my grandmother invented them, to be honest. I’ve never seen them anywhere else, anyways, though maybe its a French thing.” I turned to go to the pantry and he didn’t move so I bounced off his chest and back into the counter. 

“I’m sorry, Darling. Am I in your way?” He drawled. 

“I-uh. I need to get the, uhm. The. Stuff.” I said lamely. I couldn’t think when he was this close, and his eyes were all blue and sexy. 

“The stuff?” He asked innocently.

“Yeah, stuff.” I said. “Get your shit together WOMAN!” I mentally yelled at myself. I shook my head to clear the fuzzy. 

“Ahem, excuse me.” I said tartly, pushing past him, and going into the pantry. 

I heard him chuckle. Bastard. 

I gathered the ingredients and took a deep breath, heading back into the kitchen.

"Focus, you sad, sad woman. He’s just a man. There are Orange Cinnamon Rolls at stake here. Don’t mess this up. Meme would be very disappointed in you if you screw up her rolls. Who am I kidding? She wouldn’t give a damn about the rolls if she could see the man that is currently lounging against my kitchen counter. She’s want to know why I was baking, and not climbing him like a tree.“ I started to giggle at the thought. 

"What’s so funny, Love?” He asked smiling. 

“You don’t want to know.” I muttered, reaching into a cabinet for a mixing bowl. 

“Oh, but I think I do.” He said.

“Can you grab me those oranges over there?” I asked him, trying to change the subject. 

“Sure, so what was so funny?” He asked again. 

“I was just thinking that my Meme would have liked you.” I said, laughing.

“And that’s funny because…” 

“Oh, no reason. Do you know how to zest an orange?” I asked, handing him a grater. 

“I do, in fact. How much do you need?” He asked, setting down his glass. 

I took a gulp of my own wine, and pointed to the oranges. “All of them. Thanks.”

I walked past him and he grabbed me by the waist, stopping me. He brushed his hand down my cheek, and kissed me. His hands ran down my back and settled at my hips. He deepened the kiss, pressing me harder against his hips. I sighed agains his lips. 

He let me go and turned back to his oranges and began grating the zest. 

I stood there for a moment.

“You ok, darling?” He asked over his shoulder.

I glared at him for a second, then went back to measuring the rest of the ingredients. Once the dough was formed, I rolled it out and spread the filling on it, rolled it and wrapped it up in waxed paper and stuck it in the fridge. 

I looked over at Tom as I shut the fridge door. He was leaning against the counter, and he looked tired. 

“Did you sleep at all last night?” I asked him. 

He smiled sheepishly at me. “No, I was worried that you might need me and I can be a pretty heavy sleeper. Plus, I was reading, and I can stay up all night if I have something I want to read.”

“I do that, too. Listen. Why don’t you go lay down? I’ll finish cleaning up, then I’m going to take a quick shower.”

He looked at me and smiled. “Sure. Wake me when you come to bed?”

I nodded, knowing that I would do no such thing. 

He headed off toward my bedroom, and I finished picking up the mess I had made. I shut off the fireplace and the radio, took my wine and headed through the bedroom into the bathroom. Tom was laying on his side. I couldn’t tell if he was asleep, but he didn’t stir as I made my way into the bathroom. 

I took my wine into the shower with me and enjoyed a nice, hot, long shower. When I was done, I pulled on my giant tee shirt and went into the bedroom. Tom had rolled onto his back and was snoring gently. Mitch was laying on his feet. I felt like crying, looking at this man. Who was so sweet. Who was so beautiful. Who was in my bed. Who wanted me. Who wanted to be with me. Who my dog so obviously loved already. 

I crawled into the bed with him and lay there for a long time, just watching him. At one point, he murmured something and reached out to me, rolling towards me and wrapping his arm around me, pulling me closer. 

“You were supposed to wake me, naughty girl.” He said into my ear, his voice scratchy with sleep.

“I know, but you looked so peaceful, and you haven’t slept. Sleep.” I said, and kissed his jawline. 

“Minx.” He said sleepily. 

I snuggled closer, and he held me tight. I sighed contentedly. 

He opened one eye and looked at me for a moment. 

“Merry Christmas, Rose.”

“Merry Christmas, Tom.”

I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	10. part 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Language and Dirty bits (sexual situations)

I was in the woods. There was snow on the ground, but it was sweltering. I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me. There was a thick blanket of fog settled over the woods. I was trying to run, but I couldn’t see where I was going and didn’t want to run into a tree. I could hear something crashing through the woods behind me. I could feel a scream building in my chest as it got closer and closer. I tried to move, but found that my feet were stuck in the snow. I turned around, and I could see a shape just out of my line of sight, circling me in the mist. 

I woke with a start. I lay there for a moment, breathing hard. “Jesus, its fucking hot in here.” I thought groggily. Then I looked down and noticed the long arm thrown over my chest, and below that an even longer leg across my thighs. Mitch peeked over the leg from down on my feet. No wonder I was dying of hotness. 

I turned my head, and looked at the man sharing my bed with me. He was beautiful when he was asleep. His long eyelashes resting on his cheeks. His mouth, which smiled and smirked so quickly, was hanging open just a tiny bit. He was breathing deep and even. I was glad I hadn’t woken him. 

I watched him for a bit more, then decided at I really had to pee. I slowly slid out from under his leg and arm and off the side of the bed. He didn’t stir. I went to the bathroom, did my thing and brushed my teeth. Then I quietly made my way to the kitchen and put the Orange Cinnamon Rolls in the oven. I pulled out a mixing bowl and started to make the frosting that went on top, humming Christmas songs and I moved about the kitchen. After the rolls were done, I put them on a pretty plate and drizzled the frosting over them and placed them back in the oven to keep warm.

I poked my head into the bedroom, and Tom was still asleep, Mitch laying across his chest. I giggled quietly. He groaned. 

“Mitch, Buddy. You’re killing me.” He said. I giggled again. 

He lifted his head and peered over my massive dog at me. He smiled.

“Merry Christmas, Darling. Those rolls smell amazing.” He said, trying to push Mitch off, gently. 

“Merry Christmas, to you, too.” I said, making my way over to the bed. I snapped my fingers and Mitch jumped off the bed. I climbed up onto the bed and sat down facing him. 

“Did you sleep ok? Any more nightmares?” He asked, watching me closely. 

“I slept great. No, no nightmares.” I lied. I don’t know why, but I didn’t want to tell him about the nightmare that had woken me. 

“Mhmm.” He said, still searching my face. 

To change the subject, I leaned over to him and kissed his forehead softly, to the right of the little cut. 

“That looks good. You an probably take off the steri-strip now.” I said, as I started to pull the edges of it up. 

He watched me as I worked the bandage off, making sure it didn’t stick to the wound.

“Yeah, looks fine. Probably won’t even have much of a scar.” I rambled. 

He grabbed my hand and brought it to his mouth, tenderly kissing the scrapes and cuts on my palms. He reached up and gingerly ran his fingers down the side of my face that was bruised. 

“Its starting to turn different colors…It looks worse, its spreading downward. Have you looked at it?” He asked, concerned. 

“Yeah, its fine. Bruises on the face tend to travel with gravity. Its going to look gross for a bit, but its fine.” I said, looking away, ashamed. 

He gently pulled my chin back, so I was facing him again. “Rose, you are beautiful, do you know that? Even right now. Especially right now. This will fade, but your beauty won’t. You have such life in your eyes, such animation in your face. I could look at you all day.”

I felt like I was going to cry. Why did this man always make me want to cry, in a good way. This was new to me. I leaned over and kissed his lips. Once, twice. I worked my way down his jaw, to his neck. He had a beautiful, elegant neck. I kissed my way down it to his chest.

His chest was not really hairy, and I took full advantage, kissing and licking my way down, stopping to pay homage to each of his nipples, causing him to giggle.

“Ticklish?” I murmured. “I’ll have to remember that.” I moved down to his stomach. kissing slowly. He sucked in a breath when I reached the edge of the sheet. I ran my fingers along the trail of hair that pointed to my ultimate goal. 

“Hmm. And I didn’t think that I would have anything to unwrap on Christmas.” I said cheekily, dipping my fingers under the sheet, slowly pulling it down.

“God, Rose…” He breathed. 

“Shhh… Just relax.” I said softly. 

As the sheet skimmed past his thighs, his erection sprang free. I know I had touched it and it had been inside me last night, but I truly didn’t realize. The man was gifted. 

I continued smattering kisses along his lower abdomen, following the trail. I kissed his thighs, getting closer and closer. I could see him twitching out of the corner of my eyes, and it made me smile. Having a little bit of power over this man, that made me feel so fuzzy and like I couldn’t remember my name half the time. 

Finally, I reached out and took him in my hand, slowly grasping him and stroking. He took a deep breath. I looked up from my study of him to find him watching me, with an almost predatory gleam in his eye. 

“Do you realize how badly you are killing me right now?” He practically groaned and I leaned over and took him in my mouth.

I took him as far as I could, and then ran my tongue back up along the bottom of his cock, finishing at the tip, swirling my tongue around it. 

“Fuck, I- No. I can’t anymore.” He said. Next thing I knew, I was on my back and he was leaning over me. His eyes bore into mine for a split second, then he was kissing me, hard. His hands were everywhere, caressing, squeezing. I moaned as his fingers found their way down to my thigh and he squeezed. 

He moved his fingers up and began circling my clit with his thumb, while he pushed into me with another finger. I grabbed his shoulders and closed my eyes against the onslaught of pleasure. His kissed were raining down on my neck and chest. He took a taught nipple in his mouth, gently nipping at it. 

“Oh my fucking God.” I breathed.

“Oh, yes, Darling. Just you wait.” He said into my chest. He pulled up and was hovering over me, his arms on either side of my head. I wrapped my arms around his lower back and pulled him toward me. 

He looked at me, raising his eyebrow. 

 

“God, damn it, Tom. Now!” I demanded.

“Impatient Girl.” He chuckled. He thrust forward, embedding himself to the hilt. I let out a gush of air, not expecting to be filled so quickly. He held himself very still, watching my face. Once the initial shock wore off, I began to move my hips against his, causing a big grin to spread across his face. 

He began to move slowly. I could feel myself spiraling closer and closer to the edge. He reached between us, his thumb circling the already swollen bud. I exploded, my insides clenching around him, holding on tight. He rolled to the side, taking me with him, so that he was on his back now and I was straddling him. 

My legs were still numb from my earth shattering orgasm, when I felt him begin thrusting his hips up to mine. I began to move again, feeling that sensation building again. 

“Oh my God, I can’t again. I can’t. Oh God.” I cried as he grabbed my hips. He was pushing and pulling me at a relentless pace. 

“Oh yes you can, love, and you will.” He ground out from between clenched teeth. 

I was riding him hard as his hands dug into my hips and suddenly I felt it coming. I felt like I had burst into flames and he was the only thing keeping me from floating away with the wind. He thrust once more and he exploded, filling me. 

I fell down onto his chest, both of us breathing as if we had run a marathon. 

He was running his hands along my back, and I made to move off of him. He held me close, and said, “No, stay.”

I sighed and closed my eyes, listening to his racing heart. My breathing began to slow down, and I felt so sated, and tired. I drifted off to sleep in his arms as he smoothed my hair away from my face and kissed my forehead. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We awoke in the early afternoon, and ate reheated Orange Cinnamon Rolls. We sat in the living room and talked about our lives, families, careers. 

He told me that he had been in the area because he was filming a movie in the western part of the state, up in the mountains. He had been headed to Boston when we met. 

“Were you going home for Christmas?” I asked, feeling guilty. 

“No, I was just going to stay in the city. I’ve been staying at a hotel there most nights. There is a house that the production company rented up in the mountains, but I was feeling a little sorry for myself that I couldn’t make it home to see my family, and wanted to be alone. Shows how wrong I can be.” He smiled at me. 

“So you have to go back when?” I asked. 

 

“Monday morning. So we still have two whole days to ourselves, Love.” He reached over to where I was sitting on the couch and pulled me in his lap, kissing me. 

“I could get used to this.” I sighed. 

“I hope you do,” He murmured into my hair. 

The next 2 days flew by. We cooked meals, listened to music, read to each other from our favorite books. It was pure, fluffy, fairytale magic. We made love too many times and places to count. Monday morning came too soon. 

My alarm woke me at 4:45am. I groggily reached over and shut it off. Tom snuggled closer to me, pulling me into his side. 

“Tom, babe, I have to get up.” I said and I pulled away.

“Hmm. First time you’ve called me that. I like it.” He said, as he rolled over and fell back asleep. 

I showered and got ready, going into the closet to pick out a pair or scrubs. I pulled out my favorite, green with purple and pink frogs on it. 

When I went back into the bedroom, Tom was sitting up, with the most magnificent bed head I have ever seen. I really wanted to jump back into bed with him. He seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he pat the mattress next to him. 

“No. I can’t! I’ll be late!” I laughed as I turned and left the temptation behind me. I went into the kitchen and made my lunch. I made one for Tom, too. He didn’t have to eat it if he didn’t want to. It made me feel better. Sending him away with something I made for him. 

We hadn’t really discussed when we would see each other again. We hadn’t wanted to think about it. Tom came into the kitchen, hair tamed, dressed in dark grey jeans and a navy blue sweater. I sighed. 

“What’s wrong, love?” He asked and he came over and kissed me on the nose. 

“I’ll be the one to mention the pink elephant in the room, shall I?” I asked him. 

“Oh, that. Yes. I’ve decided, if its ok, I will try to come back here at night? Some nights I wont be able to, if we are doing a night scene. But I should be able to tonight.” He said, wrapping his arms around me. I breathed in his scent, not wanting him to let me go. 

“That sound fantastic.” I said into his chest. 

“Good.”

We finished getting ready, and I handed him his lunch in a brown paper bag. He looked at it for a moment, then a huge grin spread across his face. 

“Darling, I lo-” he stopped short and stared at me. I swallowed hard, “He wasn’t going to say what I think he was, was he?” I thought frantically. 

“Thank you, you are so sweet.” He said, averting his eyes from mine. 

I sighed as I grabbed my purse and pulled on my coat. He grabbed his coat and his lunch. 

It was really cold out, I was kicking myself for not starting my car to let it warm up. I stared at my car, thinking something looked off. I walked over to it, to inspect it more closely. 

“Shit!” I cursed. “Both my drivers side tires are flat!” 

Tom came over, his brow knit together and looked at my tires. His head whipped up, and he began scanning the lawn leading to the main house, and the woods bordering the yard in the back. 

“What?” I asked, starting to get spooked. 

“Nothing.” He said slowly. “Come on, love, I’ll give you a lift.” 

I took one last look around and followed him to his car. 

 


	11. Part 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, warnings: language, sandwich theft and a few dirty thoughts

Tom parked the car and jumped out, coming around to my door. 

“Jesus, he looks so fucking hot in glasses… I wonder if I asked, if he would leave them on during….“ I thought to myself. “Focus, Rose. You need to get through this goodbye without crying or wrapping yourself around his leg and begging him not to leave you here.”

“You didn’t have to open the door for me.” I laughed at him when he reached in for my hand.

His face did not hide his displeasure at my comment. He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. 

“Yes, Rose, I did. You deserve to be treated like this. Can’t you get that through your lovely, thick skull?” 

I giggle into his chest, then pulled back and looked at him. 

“I’m going to miss you today. How late do you think you’ll be?” 

“I’m not sure, but I’ll text you when I’m on my way, Darling.” He said as he leaned down and captured my mouth in a kiss. 

He was holding me tight, kissing me passionately, when we heard someone clearing their throat. 

“Oh, for fucks sake…..” I thought.

“Ahem. Do you mind telling me who the hell you are, and why you’re grabbing at my wife like a dog with a steak?” Drawled a deep male voice. I knew that voice and pulled back to see Tom staring down at me with confusion written all over his face. 

“WORK wife, Alex.” I corrected, biting my lip to keep from laughing at the look on Tom’s face. I leaned around him, and leveled a glare at the man standing behind Tom. 

Alex was standing there, his arms crossed across his large chest. He had the build of a line backer. He was massive. His baby face was the only thing that made him seem not as threatening. That and his hot pink scrubs. 

“Good morning, Alex. What are you doing?” I asked him, stifling a laugh. 

“Waiting for you to bring me my morning coffee so I don’t have to drink that sludge that Karen makes. What do I see when I look out the window? I see this fancy ass car pull up, and this guy,” He pointed his meaty paw at Tom, “Groping you in the middle of the parking lot. What the fuck happened to your face, Rose?” He demanded when he could finally see my whole face, turning to Tom, menacingly. 

“Oh, no. No, no, no. Down boy. It’s not what you’re thinking. Didn’t Martha call you? I would have thought you would have been top of her list.“ I said, putting a hand on his massive chest. 

“I was away. Explain. Now.” He barked.

I sighed. “Fucking men.” I thought. 

“Long story short, John attacked me the other night, Tom saved me. He’s the good guy. Simmer down, Beef Steak.” I said, getting a corner of his mouth to curve up.

“Alex, I want you to meet Tom. Tom, this is Alex. My work husband.” I said, looking at Tom, who so far, had not said a word, was just staring at this giant in pink scrubs, who I had just affectionately called Beef Steak. 

Alex stared at Tom for a few moments longer, then reached out his massive hand towards him. Tom looked at it, then reached out and shook it, a smile starting to come to his face. 

“Do I know you from somewhere?” Alex asked, narrowing his eyes at Tom suspiciously. 

“You may have seen me around.” Tom said, chuckling.

“Were you ever in prison?” Alex asked.

“No, Alex, he’s never been in prison, you ding bat. Alex used to be a nurse at the state prison before he came to work here,” I explained to Tom, who was looking more and more incredulous. “Tom is an actor, Alex. Maybe you’ve seen one of his movies.” I said. 

Alex squinted his eyes at Tom, and a look of dawning comprehension crossed his face. “Pine.” He said in awe. “Oh my God. You’re Jonathan Pine. Rose, why are you with Jonathan Pine?” He asked.

“Not Pine, just Tom.” Tom said laughing. 

“Of course. Of course. I know that. Rose, where…” Alex said, looking at me like he had never seen me before. 

“Ok, well, Tom has to go now,” I interrupted him, “So if you don’t mind, Alex, I’ll be inside in a few.” I said, trying to shooing him away. 

“Actually, Darling, if you don’t mind, I’d like to have a word with Alex.” Tom said, flashing a smile at me. 

“Ok…. Ill see you tonight then?” I asked.

“Yes, love.” He leaned down and kissed me goodbye. 

I started walking into the building, looking over my shoulder at the two men staring at my retreating back. I hurried into the office and over to the reception desk, where our secretary, Karen was staring out the window at them. 

"Jesus Christ, Rosie! What the hell happened to your face?” She gasped when I came in. 

“Long story, Karen. I’ll tell you later. Can you tell what they are talking about?” I said, peering out the window. 

Tom was gesturing towards the woods at the sides and back of the building, then at his car. Alex had his arms crossed across his chest again and was nodding. They pulled out their phones and seemed to be exchanging numbers. 

As they were talking, a minivan pulled up next to Toms car. A small, middle aged woman got out and proceeded to get two toddlers and an infant in a carrier seat out of the back. The toddlers ran at Alex and each grabbed a leg. He waved the mother towards the building. 

“Mrs. Miller has an appointment this morning?” I asked Karen. 

“Yes, she called Doc over the weekend. She’s had a nasty cough for over a week, I guess, but didn’t want to take anything because she’s still nursing. So he told her to come in first thing.” Karen said over her shoulder as she bustled over to her desk as Mrs. Miller came in the door. 

“That Alex, the boys love him so much! He’s so good to them, it’s no wonder. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s giving them candy.” Mrs. Miller said, as she dissolved into a racking cough.

“Oh, Mrs. Miller, you sound horrible! Let me just throw my stuff at my desk and I’ll come grab you.” I said, as I hurried out back. 

After I had put her and the kids in a room, I poked my head into Dr. W’s office. 

“Hey, Rose. How are you feeling?” He asked, looking at the bruise on my face. 

“I’m fine. I take it Martha got a hold of you?” I asked him.

“No, actually, it was Norma. She called me yesterday about Sarah. She was concerned the she had a urinary tract infection, she’s had some mental status changes. She said that Sarah has been talking a lot more about Teddy, since she met your new fella. She told me about what happened, and how this famous movie star saved your life. I was a little worried about her sanity, but then not ten minutes later, I got a call from General Frashburn. He wanted me to know that John had gotten out on bond. Why didn’t you call me and let me know what happened, Rose? We’ve worked together, and been friends long enough that I thought that you would let me know about something like this!” He said, looking a little hurt. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think of calling anyone. I didn't even call my parents. I figured I would tell you about it today and don’t worry about John. He won’t come here.” I said, not knowing what to say to him, feeling guilty. 

“I’m not worried about him, if he dared show his face here, Alex would tear his arms off, and that would be if I didn’t get to him first. So who’s this Tom? From what the General says, he’s a great guy.” He said.

“He is. He’s too good for me, I think.” I said, getting a little choked up, as Alex came in the room. 

“Rose. What the fuck! Why didn’t you call me?” He said, accusingly. 

“Oh, for crying out loud, not you too!” I huffed. I turned and walked out of the room, leaving them alone to trade stories. 

The day finally fell into its normal routine. When it was time for lunch, I pulled out my phone to see I had two text messages from Tom. 

“Miss you, Darling.” and “How’s your day?”

I smiled at my phone and text him back, “I miss you too. I wish we were still at my apartment. It’s busy. How’s yours?”

I looked up from my phone with a goofy grin on my face, to find Alex leaning against the counter, watching me through squinted eyes. 

“You are head over heels, my dear girl.” He accused me. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I tried to deny it. 

“Oh, please!! Not that I blame you. He’s the man. Not only is he, like, one of the hottest actors out there right now, but he seems like an actual stand up guy. And he seems pretty smitten with you, too.” He smiled. 

My phone buzzed, and I looked down to see a reply from Tom. 

“I wish we were there too. Busy here too. Alex is going to bring you home, ok?”

I looked up at Alex. “You’re bringing me home?” I asked him.

“Oh, ah, yeah. Tom told me about your tires. He said that you would need a lift home, because he wasn’t going to get back here by five.” He said, as he helped himself to half of my sandwich. 

“Doesn’t your boyfriend make you lunch?” I asked, swatting at his hand, and losing my apple in the process. 

“He’s away for a few days, business trip.” Alex said, his mouth full of said apple. 

“Are you guys going to the benefit?” I asked, taking a bite of what was left of my sandwich. A text popped up on my phone from Tom. 

“Thanks for lunch, Darling. Someone stole my apple, though.” I smiled. I typed back, “Must be the apples. Alex stole mine.”

“Earth to Rose!” Alex said, as he was digging through my lunch bag, looking for more food. “That’s all you have? We’re going. I got a new tux and everything. Anthony said that my old one had moth holes. It was fine, but he likes to make me buy new clothes.” He pulled a face. “Why? Are you going to bring Mr. Movie Star?”

I reached into my desk drawer and pulled out a bag of chocolates and threw it at him. He squealed like a two year old. 

“You definitely needed a new one. I thought you were going to bust out of those pants last year. Though Norma would have been happy. She’s determined to see you naked before she dies. Its on her bucket list.” I teased. Norma had the serious hots for our nurse. 

“She’s not getting any.” He laughed. “You didn’t answer me.”

“I was thinking of asking him. I’m not sure what “this” is. I’m trying not to put a label on it. I don’t know what he wants.” I said, picking at the remains of my sandwich. 

“Rose, I really think he cares about you. He’s definitely concerned about you. He was telling me about your tires, and how he thinks it might have been John. He wants me to bring you home tonight, because he doesn’t want you to go home alone.”

“I fucking knew it!” I thought.

“I figured as much, though I am a little irritated that he didn’t think to tell me that.” I said, sulkily. 

“He didn’t want you to freak out. He said that you had some nightmares, too. Have you had headaches or anything? Here, let me look at your pupils.” He said, leaning towards me. 

“Oh, no you don’t. Don’t get all nursey on me, Beef Steak. Come on. We’ve got patients.” I said as I jumped up and walked out front. 

Norma and Sarah were just arriving for Sarah’s appointment when I got out front. 

“Rosie! I’m surprised to see you here!” Exclaimed Norma.

“Why wouldn’t I be here? I’m always here!” I said to her, confused. 

“I’m just surprise that you can walk after the weekend you must have had with Mr. Loki.” She cackled as she walked towards the back with Sarah.

“This fucking woman will be the death of me.” I thought. Then I giggled at the look on Karen’s face and followed her. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once we had finished for the day, Alex gave me a ride home. As we pulled up my driveway, there was a police cruiser parked next to my car. I got out and walked over to find Doug, leaning over and looking at my tires. 

“Hey Rosie! How are you, sweetheart? Hey Alex, thanks for getting her home.” He said, giving me a hug. 

“I’m doing fine, Doug. Why are you here?“ I asked.

“Tom called me earlier and told me about your tires. I told him I would come up and check them out. Rosie, it looks like someone did this. Looks like they were slashed. I had one of the deputies look into it and John’s parents have given him an alibi, but I don’t believe them. I want you to be careful, and not go out alone.”

“Are you kidding me? Why would they lie?” I asked, but thinking to myself, “You know, his mother always hated you. She would probably help him kill you if she could.”

“I don’t know, but just be careful. I’ll have someone patrol up here a few times through the night. Just to be safe.” He said, casually. 

“Oh, ok. Sure. Thanks, Doug.” I said, leaning over and pecking his cheek. 

“Tom said someone was coming to replace the tires, so you should be all set for the morning.” Doug said, as he clicked a few pictures of my tires. 

“Wow, Rose. I think he’s really into you. He’s even taking care of your car!” Alex joked as he followed me to the front door. 

“Are you under orders to stay here until Tom gets home?” I asked him, with a little attitude. 

“Simmer down, little girl. We are just concerned, just want to make sure you are ok. Tom really wanted to make sure you were safe. That makes him ok in my book.” He said as we walked up the steps. 

Once I got Mitch settled, we took him out for a quick walk, and went back upstairs. 

“I suppose you want supper?” I asked him as I started to gather ingredients.

“Well, it would be payment for being your body guard.” He chuckled as he left the room. I started making a quick pasta dish, not really paying attention to where he went. 

He came back about 10 minutes later, just as I was draining the pasta. “I checked all your windows to make sure they are locked. Can’t be too careful.” He said. 

Once I had fed him, I convinced him that I would be fine without him hovering around me. I did have Mitch, after all. 

“I know he’s a big lover, but he hated John. I don’t think he would get more than one foot in the door before Mitch took it off.” I joked. 

After I saw him off. I locked the door and headed to my room. I put on a comfy sweatshirt and yoga pants, grabbed a book off the shelf and settled down to read. I didn’t make it very far before I nodded off. 

I was walking through the foggy woods again. I could see someone on the path ahead of me, on the ground. I kept trying to get closer, they needed my help. I could hear someone behind me, just out of my vision. I needed to get to the person on the path, before the thing behind me got to them. I started to run, but it was taking so long to get to them. 

“I’m coming, don’t worry, I will get to you!” I called out to the person laying on the ground, but the wind picked up and carried my voice away. 

Finally, I was close enough that I could see them.

“No!” I screamed, jolting myself awake.


	12. Part 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Of course... Language....Dirty Bits (sexual situations), emotional eating and unrealistic fluffy crap. Enjoy!

I woke with a start, and frantically felt the cold side of the bed that Tom had been occupying the past few nights. He wasn’t there. My bedside lamp was still on, I could see that he wasn’t there, but I was still wildly searching the blankets for him, sobbing and saying his name. 

 

“Rose. Rose, what’s wrong?” Tom was standing in my bedroom doorway, his coat still on and snow in his hair. 

I launched myself off the bed and threw myself at him, desperately pulling his coat open and his shirt up. I ran my hands over his chest, making sure he wasn’t injured. The nightmare had been so vivid, so real, it was still with me. 

Having assured myself that he was fine, I began to cry harder, and would have sunk to the ground had he not caught me. 

“Darling, tell me what happened. Was it another nightmare?” He asked softly, as he carried me to the large overstuffed chair in the corner. He sat with me cuddled in his lap. 

“I’m s-s-sorry.” I whispered into his chest. “I’m so sorry.” 

“Shhh. It’s alright, I’m here.” He said, as he began rubbing my back, and hugged me closer. “Tell me about the dream.” 

“It was so horrible… I couldn’t help…” I sobbed.

“Who, darling? Who were you trying to help? What happened?” He asked, though I think he knew, given the fact that I nearly ripped his clothes off him a few minutes earlier. 

“I can’t. I don’t want to say it.” I said, burying my face in his chest, inhaling his scent. It was having a calming effect on me. I slowly stopped crying, and he just held me, slightly rocking. 

“Tell me about it, Rose.” He did not ask this time. 

I took a shaky breath and pulled back so I could look at his face. He was looking at me with nothing but warmth and concern. 

“He really does care about your crazy ass. Just tell him.” I scolded myself. 

“It was a nightmare… I had one like it last night, but it was just me. I was in the woods and it was foggy, I was trying to run, but couldn’t. I could feel someone was there, just out of my sight. This was similar, but there was someone ahead of me on the path, on the ground. I kept trying to get to them, to help them. I couldn’t get close enough. The thing that was hunting me was there, it was going to get them if I didn’t save them. I finally got close enough to see who it was…” I choked on the last word, tears starting to fall again.

“It’s ok, darling, no one will hurt you. Was it me? On the path?” He asked gently. 

I nodded. He pulled me closer and held me tight, kissing the top of my head. 

“You were… there was blood, and I couldn’t stop it…I woke up, but I thought, I thought….” I sobbed.

“I’m fine, Love. I’m sorry, I should have been here sooner.”

“No. Don’t feel like you have to be here to.. I don’t know, save me from my dreams.” I finished lamely. 

He looked at me, his face stern. “Rose, that’s how a relationship works. You are there for each other. Coming in and seeing you tearing the bed apart, crying my name, ripped my heart out, and to be quite honest, scared the shit out of me. If I had been here, I could have woken you up before it got to that point. Or at least been there when you reached for me.” 

He wiped the tears from my eyes and just held me. His coat was still on, the wool rough on my face. I didn’t mind. It was real. He was here, he was safe. 

I moved so that I was straddling him, so I could look into his eyes. He touched my cheek and kissed my nose. 

“There’s supper in the fridge, if you’re hungry.” I told him, as I began removing his coat. 

“I’m not hungry right now, but thank you. Maybe later?” He smiled at me as I began working the buttons on his shirt. I was moving quickly, my hands shaking slightly. He put his hands over mine, stilling them. 

“Darling, are you sure?” He asked, looking into my eyes, so I had to tell the truth. He could tell if I didn’t. 

“I need to be close to you right now, does that make sense?” I said quietly, and I began moving my hands over his buttons again. 

He nodded and stood up, taking me with him. He brought me over to the bed, setting me down in the middle. He took his shirt the rest of the way off, kicked off his shoes and climbed on the bed. He knelt in front of me and tugged off my sweatshirt. He reached over to me, pulled me down to lay next to him. He was running his fingers through me hair as I caressed his chest. 

“You look so serious. What are you thinking about?” He whispered.

I stared at him for a moment, wondering if I should really say what I was thinking. 

“I want to know what your are really thinking, not what you think I want to hear.” He said. 

“Can you read minds?” I laughed. 

“Sometimes. It’s easy when someone’s thoughts are written all over their face. You should never play poker, my dear.” He said. 

I sighed, as he leaned forward and began kissing my neck. “I, ah, that’s really nice. Um, I was thinking about you. I guess.”

“Me?” He murmured as he began moving down my neck to my chest. I arched my back to get closer to him. 

“Mhmm. Oh, Tom!” I groaned. 

“Yes, darling, we’ve already established, you were thinking about me. You guess. What about dear, old me?” He said, as his tongue darted out and ran along the edge of my bra. 

“Ah, what? Oh, I was thinking,” I brought my hands up to my face, trying to hide the blush I knew was starting on my cheeks. I was glad he wasn’t near my face at the moment. “I was thinking about how much… you mean to me. About how I think, maybe, I’m…”

“You’re what, love?” He questions, as he moved down my belly, to my pants. He began peeling them back, kissing my skin as it became available. He tossed my pants to the side, covering the lamp, and effectively dimming the room. 

He was kissing my thighs, moving closer and closer to my center. I couldn’t think straight, but my mind was screaming, “Shut the fuck up! Do not say what you were going to say! Don’t do it!!!!!” 

“Rose?” He asked, hovering above me. I looked down at him, and he raised his eyebrows in question. 

When I didn’t answer him, he growled, looking predatory. He grasped my panties, and in one quick motion, ripped them off. He went back to kissing my inner thighs, closer and closer. He ran his tongue along the outside of me, making me moan his name. I grasped the sheets, trying to hold on, to what, I don’t know. My sanity, probably. 

He began licking and sucking, moving his tongue slowly. His hands, his beautiful hands, were grasping my thighs, pressing me open to him. He was driving me insane, I couldn’t take it.

“Tom, I can’t. I-” I cried, as he sunk his finger into me, curling it, rubbing that magical spot. I reached out and grabbed his hair, pulling him up, so he clambered up my body. 

He was now laying on top of me, his forearms braced on either side of my head. 

“My darling Rose. So beautiful.” He said, as he dipped down and took my mouth with his. He tasted of me, and it made me groan. I could feel him at my entrance, gently pushing. He would go in a few inches, pull back out. In a little, pull back out. 

“You’re killing me!” I cried, arching myself, trying to fully take him. 

He wickedly smiled at me, and said, “What were you going to say earlier?” 

“No! That is not fair!” I practically wailed.

He chuckled and drew out again. I could see that now that I was looking closer, that he was holding himself very taut. His face was a mask of concentration. “It’s killing him, too!” I thought, “He’s barely hanging on… well, two can play at this game!” 

I pushed at his chest, trying to get him off me. He didn’t budge at first, until he realized what I was trying to do, then he jumped back. 

“Darling, are you ok?” He asked, concerned. 

I got up on my knees and jumped on him, tackling him back onto the bed. I was straddling him and he looked quite shocked. I gripped him and guided him into me, sinking down, until our hips met. 

He moaned and threw his head back, gripping my hips and bucking up, trying to get deeper than he already was. I began rocking back and forth, slowly, then stopped. His head snapped up and he looked at me. I threw him a saucy smile. I rocked forward a little bit, then stopped again. 

“Oh, I see. Ok, then.” He said through gritted teeth. He grabbed my hips, and flipped me over, onto my stomach. He grasped my waist, pulling me up and back, so that I was on my knees. He stuffed a pillow under my head, and entered me in one quick motion. He began pumping hard. His hands were gripping my hips so hard, but it felt amazing. 

“Come on, Love, cum for me. Cum for me.” He ground out, as he thrust even harder. As if on command, my body exploded around him, gripping him tightly. I heard a relieved groan, and felt him release as well. 

He fell down on the bed next to me, and pulled me into him, so that he was spooning me. He ran his fingers along my arm. 

“You’re not going to say it, are you?” He asked quietly. 

I turned around in his arms, to see the look on his face. He had a small smile playing on his lips. 

“W-what did you think I was going to say?” I asked him.

“It’s fine Rose. You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. I’ll say it first. I love you. I don’t care how long it’s been. I feel like I’ve found home when I ’m with you. I just wanted to see if I could make you say it first. Like I said, darling. I can read you like a book. Please, don’t ever play poker.” He chuckled. 

I stared at him. “What the FUCK did he just say? Did he say… No. He couldn’t have. But he did. He said he fucking LOVES you. Oh. My. God. No. Yes. No. YES!” My heart was arguing with my mind. 

He was watching me closely. Those amazing blue eyes of his seeing my internal struggle, and just waiting patiently for me to finish. He began playing with my hair, wrapping it around his long fingers. 

“Tom, I… You know I…Well, you just said… And I…” I floundered for the words. 

“You’re very cute when your flustered, do you know that?” He laughed, dusting kisses on my forehead. 

I grabbed his face, making him stop and look at me. I looked into his eyes, and smiled. “I love you, too.” I said. 

He smiled and kissed me deeply. He pulled me close to him, and sighed contentedly. 

“So, what’s for dinner?” He asked, chuckling. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When my alarm clock went off in the morning, I groaned, hitting it, none too gently. 

“I don’t wanna.” I said into my pillow.

Tom pulled me close to him and kissed my neck. 

“I don’t want to either, my love, but we must.” He said as he got up from the bed, stretching and headed into the bathroom. I watching him go in amazement. “Wow. Just fucking WOW.” I thought, shaking my head. I reluctantly got up and began getting ready. 

We said goodbye in the driveway, kissing each other for far too long. 

“I don’t think I’ll be back tonight, love.” Tom said sadly. 

“Oh?” I said, trying to keep my heart out of my voice. 

“Its supposed to snow tonight and the director wants to get a scene in with it. So if it does, I’ll be there really late, I might as well just stay there tonight. I’ll miss you terribly.” He said, kissing my forehead. 

I smiled at him, “Its fine. Don’t worry about me, I’ll still be here tomorrow!” I said lightheartedly. Inside I was dying. 

“Rose… We will make it work. I promise. I’ll be back. ”

“Tom, please, don’t make promises that you can’t keep. We will try, I know we will, but don’t promise. You have no way of knowing what will happen.” I said, looking at the ground. 

He gripped my arms and pulled me closer to him. His hand gently tilted my chin so I was looking at him. 

“I promise.” He said fiercely. “Don’t start with this right now, Rose. I’m a man of my word, don’t forget that.” 

“I do really love you, you know that?” I asked him.

“I do. I love you to, Darling. Have a good day. Be careful. I texted Alex, he said that he will follow you home tonight. Just to make sure. I don’t like the idea of you coming home alone.”

“I’ll be fine. It was just a fluke thing, the tires. I don’t think it was John. Kids, or something.” I said

“Poker face, Rose.” He chided, as he grabbed his brown lunch bag from me and pecked my lips once more. I watched him get into his car, and turned to get into mine. I thought I heard twigs breaking in the woods off to the side of the carriage house. I looked around carefully, but didn’t see anything. I got into my car and headed to work. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was a long day. Alex was in a mood, and was blaming it on me, saying I was sulking. 

“The man’s gotta work, Rose! You don’t see me being all bitchy every time Anthony has to go away for work! And what are you going to do when he has to go somewhere far away for months for a project? I’m not trying to be an asshole, Rose, I just want you to think about what you’re getting into. Tom’s great, but you have to realize his life is way different than ours. He doesn’t work a nine to five.” Alex said, as I was digging around in my desk, looking for candy. 

“Did you eat all of my candy?” I snapped at him. 

“See! This is what I’m saying! It’s not like you to be angry about me eating your candy! That’s it, I’m calling Martha.” He said as he went to stalk off to his desk, 5 feet away. I jumped up and grabbed him by the neck of his scrub top, lime green today, brining him down to my level. 

“You will do no such thing. I’m fine. I’m great, actually. I just didn’t sleep good last night, and I would appreciate if you would do two simple things for me.” I snarled at him.

“What?” He squeaked.

“First, go to the fucking store and get me some more chocolate. Secondly, butt out.” I said, deathly calm. 

Dr. W came around the corner with the General at that moment. 

“Well, that’s not something you see everyday!” The General hooted.

“Rose, could you please refrain from maiming Alex and give the General his b12 shot?” He said, like it was no big thing to see his five foot five medical assistant gripping the shirt of his six foot five nurse, snarling in his face. 

“Sorry, General, Alex can do it. I have to run out.” I said, snatching my purse off my desk and walking away. 

“Rose! You aren’t supposed to go out alone!” Alex called after me. I threw my middle finger up at him. 

“What the fuck Rose? What is wrong with you? It’s not their fault that you… whatever is wrong with you!" I scolded myself as I got in my car and turned it on. I drove down the road to the store and bought way too much candy. 

"You alright, Rose?” Asked the clerk, who was, of course a patient. 

“I’m fine, these are for Alex, he’s having a bad day.” I lied, perusing the magazines. 

“Oh, is Anthony out of town again?” She giggled. 

“Yeah…” I said absentmindedly as my eyes fell on a tabloid that had a very familiar face on the front. 

“This too, Susan. Alex loves trash magazines.” I said as I threw it on the pile. 

I hurried back to my car and ripped the magazine out of the bag, scanning the front. 

Up in the right corner, was Tom, coming out of a building, smiling at the cameras as he led some beautiful woman by the hand. 

“Tom and Isabelle - Engagement Rumors!” It said in big red letters. I stared at it, in shock, the tears already streaming down my face.


	13. Part 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Language. Angst.

I drove back to work and parked my car. I sat there staring into the woods, not really seeing them. My phone went off, making me jump. It was Tom. I hit the silent button, laughing a little at the irony. 

“The magazine came out almost a month ago, it must not be true, right? I mean, tabloids are crap, right? Right. He wouldn’t do that. Would he?” I thought. 

I had stopped crying. I grabbed my bags of candy, took a deep breath and got out of the car. I saw Alex headed over towards me. He looked pissed. 

“What the fuck, Rose?” He hissed at me. “You know better than to be out on your own! If something happened, Tom would have a conniption!”

“Don’t worry about Tom. I’m a grown woman, Alex. I can go to the store on my lunch break by myself. I needed chocolate.” I said, holding up my bags. 

He looked at me, dumbfounded at the amount of candy I had purchased. I left him standing there and went back into the office. I sat at my desk, and put on my headphones, effectively tuning everyone out with my iPod on shuffle. We didn’t have any patients on Tuesday afternoons. It was the day I usually caught up on paperwork. I threw myself into the world of prior authorizations, prescriptions, pre-op paperwork and the like. I ate way too much candy.

I was typing away, when Karen came to the counter in front of my desk with a vase of flowers. The most heart wrenchingly beautiful lilacs that I had ever seen. She placed them on the counter and waved the card at me. I sighed and pulled off my headphones. 

“Read it! Who could it be from?” She giggled. I love Karen, I really do, but I wanted to deck her. 

I ripped open the envelope and looked over at Alex, who was watching me closely. I looked down at the little card. 

“I Promise. Love, T”

I looked at the lovely, delicate light purple flowers. My favorite. How had he known? I reached for the vase, and pulled it down so I could inhale the beautiful scent. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes. 

“I need to go.” I said, as I stood up, grabbing my coat off the back of my chair. I pulled it on, grabbing my purse, and making my way toward the door. 

“Rose, wait. Let me get my keys. I’ll follow you.” Alex said, standing. 

“No.” I snapped. I took a deep breath and smiled at my dear friend, who was only trying to help me. “No, Alex. Thank you. I will be fine. I swear. I will text you when I’m home.” I said, more kindly. 

“But Rose, what if he’s there? What if something happens to you? I would never forgive myself for not going.” He said, grabbing his coat and keys. 

I sighed. “Fine. Lets go then.” I said, leaving the flowers on the counter, and walking out the door. 

Alex followed me home, and we passed a patrol car on the way up my driveway, who waved at me as he passed. When I parked my car, Alex got out of his and said that he would walk Mitch for me. I didn’t argue. I was exhausted. After he had brought Mitch back up, he stopped in the kitchen. 

“Rose, I don’t know what happened, but if you need to talk, I’m here, ok?” He said, his hand on the doorknob. 

“Thanks, Alex. I really do appreciate it. I don’t know what happened, either. I’m fine. I’ll be fine.” I said, reaching up and kissing his cheek. 

“You keep saying that, but you have a terrible poker face, you know that?” He asked. 

“Someone told me that once, yes.” I said sadly. 

After he left, I grabbed a bottle of wine, put on some PJs and grabbed a big comfy blanket and curled up on my overstuffed chair with my tablet. I checked my phone. Another missed call from Tom, and three texts. I decided that I should probably check them.

“Miss you.” “Are you ok?” “Rose… please let me know that you are ok.”

I text back. “I’m fine. Tired, going to bed. Talk to you tomorrow. I love you.” I hesitated before I hit send. I did love him, but did I want to say it right now? I hit send. 

Right away, my phone went off with another message from him. “Thank you. I was worried. I love you too Darling. Sleep well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I sat there looking at the home screen of my tablet for a bit. Even though Tom was a movie star, I didn’t know him in that light. I felt like I was snooping. I drank another glass of wine, and opened the search engine. 

I typed in his name, and was shocked by how high of a number the results reached. I looked at his IMDb page. I told a brief history of his life, which he had already told me more about than what was written. 

I scrolled over to his filmography, seeing the films that had been mentioned by Norma and Alex. 

“The War Horse… Ah. That’s where I’ve seen him!” I said to myself. I knew he had looked vaguely familiar. Years ago, Alex had dragged me to see that movie. It had been a night out with him, before he met Anthony. There had been a lot of alcohol involved. I remembered that his character dies, and it was a heart wrenching scene. I remembered Alex crying like a baby. 

I browsed a bit more, then logged onto YouTube. I typed in his name. I began watching videos of him. Interviews, mostly. Some clips from movies. He was, apparently, very good at impressions. There were more than a few of him dancing. 

“Holy shit! Snake hips, indeed!” I thought, giggling. I watched him charm the audiences and the interviewers. 

I saw a link for a play he had done, Coriolanus. It was a lesser know Shakespeare play, that I was pretty sure I had read for a college course. 

I clicked the play button and snuggled down into my blanket. I was transfixed. He was incredible, so amazingly talented. His soul was on display for everyone in that theater. He was beauty in action. I was falling in love with him, with Tom Hiddleston, the actor. 

Was that who I had fallen in love with? The actor? I didn’t think so. While part of me was screaming, “He’s a liar! This is what he does for a living. Makes people believe lies. He was using you! You were just a convenient piece of ass!” The majority of me was screaming right back, “No. He is not that kind of man. I know it in my soul!” 

I took the tablet and carried it to my bed, curling up with it, wishing it was really him, not Caius Martius, who was in my bed with me. I drifted off to sleep watching him. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was in the woods again. The fog was so thick, that I couldn’t see anything more than five feet away. I could hear a woman, laughing. I tried to call out to her, but her laughter only increased, turning cruel. The fog was thinning ahead, I could see someone on the path. My stomach roiled as I noticed a woman standing over the person on the path, her head tossed back in laughter. 

“Help him!” I screamed. She turned to look at me. She was the woman from the magazine, but she wasn’t. That woman had been beautiful, young, vibrant. This woman was scary. Her face was stretched taut in a sickly grin. She looked old, with tons of makeup caked on her face. 

“You can’t have him. He’s gone.” She said is a slow, drawling voice. 

“No, he promised. He promised!” I cried. 

“Promises!” She shrieked. “Nothing more than words, girl. You know better than that. Save yourself, before it finds you. It is approaching.”

I whipped my head around. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear the snapping twigs just beyond my sight, in the fog. 

“No, I can’t leave without him!” I called, turning back, but they were both gone. 

I sat straight up in bed, crying out as I woke. 

I put my head in my hands saying, “What the fuck!” 

I wished Tom were there. He would have held me and made me feel so safe. I pulled my legs up to my chest, rested my head on my knees and sobbed. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Morning didn’t come soon enough. I could not get back to sleep after that horrible dream. I finished watching Coriolanus. I also watched what seemed like a million more interviews. I had been avoiding anything that had her name on it. I felt that he should be the one to tell me if he was really engaged or what the story was there. 

I dragged myself to the bathroom and got ready for work. I pulled out a pair of black scrubs, and paired it with a neon yellow and green stripped long-sleeved shirt under it. I dug out a pair of sneakers that matched. 

I made my lunch and took Mitch out for a quick walk. As I was walking him, I noticed foot prints in the snow. They came out of the woods and went around the back of the carriage house. As I was studying them, a big, brown, old pickup clanked up the driveway. I smiled and waved, holding Mitch back.

The pickup stuttered to a halt, and the General rolled down his window. “Rosie, my darling girl. I just came to check up on you. You sure looked like you were going to lay out Alex yesterday.” He chuckled. 

“He ate all my chocolate. Hi Stewart!” I said to his passenger. “Going to get coffee?” I asked the General. 

“You know it. Listen, Tom called me this morning, asked me to drive by and make sure everything was locked up tight. I didn’t mention to him about your going out by yourself yesterday.” He said in a scolding tone. 

“Oh, not you too!” I huffed. I was tempted to stamp my foot. “I’ve had about enough of all you, you MEN, trying to direct my life. I know that you all have my best interests at heart, but I am a grown woman! And Tom is not my keeper. There is no reason for him to call you, or for you to tell him anything about what I do.” I turned and stalked back to the door. 

“Rosie, don’t be like that!” the General called after me. I could hear the door of the truck open, and heard him grunt as he hopped down. 

“Why that stubborn ass continues to drive that ridiculous truck is beyond me. He can’t get into the fucking thing without almost losing his prosthetic.” I though viciously. “Whoa, simmer down there Rose. He only means well. They all only mean well.” I said to myself. It was like good angel, bad angel. 

“Rosie, wait!” The General called. I only stopped because I didn’t want to deal with it if he fell and broke his hip. 

“What?” I asked, turning on him. 

“Tell me.” He said, standing with his hands on his hips, looking daggers at me. 

“Tell you what?” I asked, peevishly.

“Tell me what has you acting like this. This isn’t you. Something happened. Being upset with Alex yesterday. Going out by yourself when you know that there is good reason not to. Being, well, like this towards me. Its not you. So tell me. Did something happen with Tom? Did he do something to hurt you?” He demanded. 

“No, he didn’t do anything. I’m just feeling claustrophobic. I’m sorry. I know you guys just care and don’t want t see me get hurt. I guess I’ve just gotten used to doing what I want, when I want.” I said, not willing to tell the General about the tabloid. “Listen, I’ve got to get Mitch back upstairs and get to work. I’m late as it is. Thank you for coming up to check.” I reached up on my toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. 

I turned and left him standing there and ran Mitch up the stairs, grabbed my purse and lunch and headed back out, locking the doors behind me. When I got outside, the truck was gone and the footsteps were forgotten.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When I got to work, the lilacs were still on the counter in from of my desk. I took the vase and moved it out into the waiting room. When I came back, Alex was sitting in my seat. 

 

“Yes?” I asked tartly. 

“Oh, nothing. Just came over to say hi.” He said, spinning around in my chair. “Anthony is home. He wants to go to Harvey’s tonight. Its been forever since you came out with us. Wanna come?” He asked, giving me the puppy dog eyes. 

“I don’t know, Alex. Tom-” I stopped. Did I want to be available when he decided to show up? Maybe I should go out, not be there when he gets home. “It’s not his home, Rose. It’s your home, and he has just been sleeping there… sleeping with you, there.” My inner asshole so nicely reminded me. 

I smiled at Alex. “Sure. Count me in.”

 




	14. Part 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: swearing, drinking, bad karaoke, a homophobic verbally abusive asshole…. I don’t own My Church by Maren Morris, I just sing it when I drink too much and my work hubs makes me, so I figured Rose could have the same go to song.

After we had finished for the day, Alex and I locked up the office. 

“Why don’t you just come with me and I can give you a lift home later? You can leave your car here and I’ll come grab you in the morning.” Alex offered. I thought that was a good idea, so I followed him to his car. 

His phone went off as we were getting in. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it, texting a reply. 

“Anthony going to be late?” I asked as I fiddled with the radio. He was always late. 

“What? Oh, no. No. He’s meeting us there.“ Alex said, distracted. 

Harvey’s was right down the street. The small bar was cozy and welcoming. The owner, Harold, had a knack for making it a fun night for everyone. He would do trivia and karaoke. Football games were always a huge deal. Alex and I used to go together on Thursday nights before I had met John. Harold always used to give me a shot on the house if I would sing. He never would tell us why the name of the bar was Harvey’s, not Harold’s. We used to make up wild stories, trying to get him to break. 

We walked in to a chorus of “Alex and Rosie!” from the people at the bar. Quite a few of them were patients at the office. 

“Guys! Over here!” Anthony was waving from the back, at a high rise table. 

He pulled me into a big hug. He was almost as tall as Alex, but not as, well, beefy. He must have come from work, because he was wearing a vest over a white button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up his forearms, his jacket was on the back of his chair. 

“Oh, Rose! My Sweetling Rose! How long has it been?” He asked, squeezing me even tighter. Anthony always gave the best hugs. 

“Oh, I don’t know, Tone. Two weeks?” I said into his chest. He chuckled and let me go. 

“Feels like longer. Alex was telling me some very interesting bedtime stories last night, Little Girl.” He went to ruffle my hair and I ducked away and hopped up on one of the chairs. 

“Alex, Rosie, the usual?” Harold called from behind the bar. Alex gave him a thumbs up. 

“I have no idea what he’s been telling you, but its all lies.” I smiled. 

“Well, I thought it was a little crazy that THE Mr. Tom Hiddleston would be out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, at a Target, no less.” He smirked at me. “I didn’t want to believe him, but then we got a phone call from this lovely sounding British man, who identified himself as Tom, and asked if he could please speak to Alex.”

“Why did he call you?” I asked, rounding on Alex. 

“Simmer down, Rose. He just wanted to check on you because you hadn’t answered him. You’re acting like a spiteful teenager, if you ask me. I only told him that I followed you home and made sure you were ok before I left.” 

Harold came over with our drinks. 2 beers and 2 shots of Fireball. “You kids want a burger or anything?” He asked, plunking a shot and beer in front of me. 

“Oh, Harold, I think just the beer.” I said, pushing the shot back.

“Oh no, shoot it, bitch.” Alex said, pushing it back. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. We both slapped the table with our hand and threw back the shots.

“There’s our Rosie!” Harold yelled, resulting in some cheers from my fans at the bar. “We’ve missed you around here.” He said. 

“Burgers all around, Harold. Thanks.” Anthony said. After Harold had walked away, he leveled a stare at me. “Spill, pipsqueak. Alex said that you were bouncing around the office like a lovesick school girl, and then the next day, you tried to kill him. Did something happen between you and His Royal Hotness, or is it just all this crap with John? You can talk to me. I’m the sensitive one.” He joked. 

Alex was playing with his phone, not paying attention. “Tone, I love you, you know that right?” I asked him, already feeling a little warm from the shot. 

“Of course you do. And if I liked women, I would have married you by now, that’s how much I love you. However, that is neither here, nor there. What’s the story, no more distractions with love declarations please.” He chuckled. 

I sighed. I put my hand up to signal Harold I wanted another round of shots. 

“I fell in love with someone who I’m not sure I should have. He’s perfect, well, no ones perfect, but you know what I mean. He says that we can make it work. He promised that we can make it work.” Harold dropped off the shots, patting me on the back as he walked by. I smiled at him. 

“You know how I feel about promises, Tone.” I said, staring into my beer. 

“Yeah, you’re the most unromantic hopeless romantic I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet. So the poor bastard promised to try to make it work, and you what, freaked out? Cried hysterically, started quoting Romeo and Juliet, called things off?” He asked, passing around the shots. We all slapped the table and threw back the shots. 

“No…” I looked at Alex, surprised he wasn’t interrupting, getting all fussy that I hadn’t shared any of this with him. He was typing on his phone. 

Anthony made a motion with his hands indicating me to continue. 

“Oh, God, Tone. I don’t even know if I should be upset with him. I feel like an idiot, but I was so mad yesterday. First, I was already in a crappy mood because I didn’t sleep good….I’ve been having weird dreams….And, if I’m honest, because Tom had to work last night and I knew he wasn’t coming home… back to my place, I need to stop calling it his home. Then I found out that Beef Steak here had eaten all my chocolate. Like, 3 bags! Don’t you feed him at home? So then I had gone to the store, and saw a tabloid….”

“Ah. You saw him on a tabloid cover with some beautiful starlet? And you automatically assumed that what they wrote was true?” He asked. 

I felt like a dumbass. “Well, I kinda had an argument with myself about that. Part of me wanted to let him tell me was the truth was, but the other part assumed it was true.” I said, looking away. Truth be told, I was embarrassed by how childish I had been. Tom had text me several times during the day, and I hadn’t answered him.

“Well, I don’t blame you, however, you should give the poor man the benefit of doubt. From what Alex said, he really cares about you, and he actually seems like a great guy.”

“He is. I don’t deserve him. This is never going to work. I was kidding myself thinking we could make it work, even though I really, really, want it to work. I don’t know why he even wants me. I’ve been trying to push him away since we met. I’ve ignored him for the past two days.”

“Maybe you should text him.” Alex piped in. 

I looked at my phone. There was a text from Tom. “See you soon, Love. Miss you.” I smiled a little. I typed back, “miss you. I’m not home, but I’ll be there soon. ” 

Harold had come back over and put a shot and a wireless microphone in front of me on the table. 

“Oh, Harold, no. I haven’t done that in so long, I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

“Come on Rosie,” He said loudly, catching the attention of the bar flies. They all started yelling for me to sing a song. 

“Yeah, come on Rosie!” Alex and Anthony joined in. 

“Do Maren Morris!” Called Sue from the store, who was over at another table. 

“Fine, just one, though.” I said, slapping the table and throwing back the fireball Harold had brought me. 

Harold went to fiddle with the karaoke machine, putting on my song. 

“I can’t believe you guys really want me to do this.” I grumbled, definitely feeling tipsy. 

The music started to flow from the speakers and I flipped on the microphone. I cleared my throat, said “Alright, you guys asked for this, remember that!” and started to sing. 

“I’ve cussed on a Sunday  
I’ve cheated and I’ve lied  
I’ve fallen down from grace  
A few too many times  
But I find holy redemption  
When I put this car in drive  
Roll the windows down and turn up the dial”

I hopped down from my chair and began walking in between the tables.

“Can I get a hallelujah  
Can I get an amen  
Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya  
When I play the highway FM  
I find my soul revival  
Singing every single verse  
Yeah I guess that’s my church”

I got a high five from Sue.

“When Hank brings the sermon  
And Cash leads the choir  
It gets my cold cold heart burning  
Hotter than a ring of fire  
When this wonderful world gets heavy  
And I need to find my escape  
I just keep the wheels rolling, radio scrolling  
‘Til my sins wash away”

I walked over by the bar, singing my heart out.

“Can I get a hallelujah  
Can I get an amen  
Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya  
When I play the highway FM  
I find my soul revival  
Singing every single verse  
Yeah I guess that’s my church”

I finished out the repeat courses to applause and requests for an encore. I shook my head, laughing. It actually felt good. I turned to go back to my table and stopped dead in my tracks. Sitting with Alex and Anthony was Tom. “When the fuck did he get here? He doesn’t look mad…. why is he smiling at me like that?” I thought. He had that huge boyish grin on his face and was looking heartbreakingly handsome, and maybe a little proud of me. He was clapping enthusiastically, yelling “Encore!” 

I turned and quickly walked to the hallway that led to the ladies room. I hadn’t been expecting him. How had he known….“Alex, you son of a bitch. Ohhh, no chocolate for you, my friend, for a very long time.” I though viciously as the door slammed behind me and I went over to the mirror and looked at myself. 

My cheeks were bright red, my eyes were bright and the bruise on the side of my face was finally starting to fade. I had been able to cover it a little with makeup, but most of it had worn off by this time of the day. I was definitely drunk at this point. Not sloppy, falling down and passing out drunk, but past tipsy. I decided that since I was in there, I might as well use the facilities. I went into the stall and did my thing. 

I came out and was washing my hands when I heard the door open. I looked in the mirror. 

“Fuck. Of course.” I thought I thought, but I said. 

“Well, hello to you too, Darling.” Tom smirked from just inside the door. 

“Tom, this is the ladies room. You can’t be in here.” I said frantically. 

“But you’re the only one in here, love. I thought I could maybe get you to talk to me, as you haven’t been returning my calls or messages.” He said calmly. No yelling, or nasty words. I don’t know what I had been expecting. 

“Oh, that. Yeah. I’m sorry.” I said lamely. 

He looked at me, and sighed. “Rose, what’s wrong. Alex wouldn’t tell me what happened, only that you were upset with me. What did I do? I’m sorry. Whatever it was, it was unintentional. I would never hurt you, you know that.”

“That bitch.” I said, rolling my eyes. Ok, maybe I was drunker than I thought. “Promises…” I trailed off. “Did you promise her anything?” I asked quietly. 

He had been looking at the vending machine on the wall and snapped his head back to face me. 

“Who?” He asked.

“Her. Isabelle. Did you promise her that you wouldn’t hurt her?” I asked, watching his reaction. He looked confused. 

“Isabelle? Why would I promise her anything? What is this about, Rose?” He demanded. 

“You’re not engaged to her? Or, rather, there isn’t any reason for,” I made air quotes, “engagement rumors?” 

“What are you talking about? Are you pissed?” He asked.

“Yes, I’m pissed! You tell me that you love me, then I go to the store and see you on a magazine holding hands with some gorgeous creature, and it says you’re practically engaged! Why wouldn’t that make me mad?” I sputtered at him.

He started laughing, hard. He was doubled over, holding his sides. I stared at him, trying to make sense of what just happened. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Darling.” He laughed. “I meant are you drunk. I’m sorry. This is not funny.” He took a breath and moved towards me, backing me up against the counter. “Rose, my love. Tabloids write things about me all the time. It’s hardly ever true, unless they are saying I stopped to get a coffee. Or bought a new pair of shoes. They love when I buy a new pair of shoes. Did you really think that I could be engaged to a woman and tell you that I love you? Make love to you? Is that what you think of me? It’s no wonder you weren’t answering my calls.”

He leaned forward and kissed my forehead and pulled me into a hug. I took a deep breath. 

“Jesus, you smell so fucking good. Have I told you that? Ok. Maybe I am a little drunk. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I just didn’t know what to think when I saw you holding hands with some woman, an absolutely beautiful woman, and it said in big red letter “Engagement Rumors. Underlined. With little hearts.” I said into his chest. 

“Isabelle is a striking woman. She is a good friend. She is also a lesbian.” He chuckled, rubbing my back. 

“Is she?!” I leaned back so I could look in his face, way too excited about Isabelle’s sexual preference. 

“Very much so.” He smiled. He leaned down to kiss me, pushing me further onto the counter so he was standing between my legs. He was running his hands up and down my thighs, making my brain go even fuzzier than it already was. 

The door banged open, and Sue walked in. She stopped in her tracks, stared at us, smiled, and walked back out.

“Oh, no. We have to go back out there, she’s going to tell everyone we’re doing it in the bathroom!” I groaned. “She’s the biggest gossip in town!” I said as I dragged a laughing Tom back out into the bar. 

There was a round of cheers and Atta-boy’s from the bar flies. I shot them all a look and they shushed. 

We made our way back over to Alex and Anthony. Our burgers had arrived. 

“Oh, I’m so hungry!” I cried as I hopped up in my chair and started to eat a fry. Tom reached over and grabbed half my burger. 

“Tom, I have to ask, where do you get your suits tailored? They always fit perfectly.” Anthony gushed. 

“Ugh, clothes!” Alex grunted from behind his cheeseburger. 

“Oh, Hey! That remind me. Do you have a tux?” I asked Tom, signaling to Harold for another round of shots. He shook his head at me. He knew my limit better than I did. I stuck my tongue out at him. 

“I have several in fact. Is there a reason you wanted to know that, or just curiosity?” He smiled at me, his hand on my leg. 

“Uhm… you have such… capable hands. Did you know that?” I said, popping another fry into my mouth, eyeballing him in a lusty way. 

“Oh good lord, she’s wasted!” Alex said, throwing his hands up. “Rose, what’s happened to you? Three shots and half a beer and your under the table.“ I started to giggle, mouthing “under the table” to Anthony, waggling my eyebrows. “Should have known, she hasn’t drank like that in years. She’s trying to ask you if you want to go to a benefit that we go to every year. Its for the local children’s hospital. We usually all go together. Its this Saturday.” 

“Sweetheart, I would love to go to the benefit with you.” Tom said, leaning closer and whispering in my ear, “I would also like to go home and let you experience how “capable my hands can be.” He leaned back, smirking. 

“Guys, its been real. We gotta go.” I said, hopping off my chair and bumping into Anthony. 

“Steady, pipsqueak, his, ah, hands aren’t going anywhere.” He said affectionately.

The bar had been its usually rowdy self, but all of a sudden, the noise level dropped. We all looked towards the door, and a group of men had just walked in. John was among them. 

Harold immediately went over to them and quietly spoke to John. He stared at Harold like he had three heads and then started looking around the bar. Tom moved in front of me, Alex and Anthony flanking him. John pushed Harold aside and strode over to us. 

“Fairy Cakes! Long time no see. And you. Mr. Movie star. You think that you can always be the hero? That you can always be there? Why you would want that whore,” He spat, “ I can’t figure it out. Why waste your time on some small town slut? Can’t satisfy those women you meet out in Hollywood? Gotta poach on other men’s property? Or are you like these two?” He laughed nastily. 

“You should leave.” Tom said, deathly calm, staring him down. John was at least a half a foot shorter. 

“I’ll leave when I’m good and ready. What’s the matter, Rose? Cat got your tongue? You think he wants anything more that to get into your pants? You’re just a piece of ass, and not even a good one.” He said mockingly, trying to see me around Tom. 

Tom made to move forward, but Alex got there first. He grabbed John by the front of his jacket and dragged him away from us, towards the door. His friends were all standing there watching. None of them were dumb enough to mess with a man the size of Alex. He threw him out the door, and turned towards Harold, telling him to call Doug. 

“You should take her home, I think.” Anthony said, looking at me. I had frozen in place, and felt nauseous. 

“Yes, of course. Come on Darling. Lets go home.” He said, putting his arm around me and leading me towards the door. 

“It was nice to see you Rosie, please come back and see us again. You are always welcome here, you know that, right?.” Harold said.

I raised my hand in acknowledgement of his comment, but couldn’t answer. Tom peered out the window, presumably checking if they had left. Alex came over and stood next to us. 

“That little piece of shit. Rose, are you ok, honey?” He asked, leaning down to look in my eyes. 

“I’m fine, Alex, I just want to go home, I think.” I said unsteadily. 

“Alex, thank you. I appreciate all your help. Rose has really good friends. It makes me feel better, know she’s with you all day.“ Tom said, shaking his hand. 

“Anytime, Hiddleston.” He said gruffly, but I could tell he was pleased by the praise. I managed a small smile at him. 

Anthony had come over. “Rose, my dream. Please. If you won’t listen to anyone else, listen to me. Do not go out alone again. John has lost his fucking mind, and I don’t trust that little bastard.”

“I won’t. I’m sorry I’ve been such an asshole… I don’t know why I didn’t listen to you guys. I thought he would get over it, leave me alone.” I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. 

“Shh, it’s ok, sweet. Just try to be safe, for us, ok?” Anthony gave me a big hug, and shook Tom’s hand. 

Tom lead me out into the parking lot to his car. He opened the door for me and handed me into the car. He went around and got in the driver side. 

“Darling, please. I know that you are scared, but it will be ok. He will not get to you. He just violated his bail. I’m pretty sure this is what Doug has been waiting for. He will be going back to jail, and I don’t think that they will let him back out anytime soon.” He reached over and stroked my cheek. “I love you, Rose. I won’t let him touch you.”

I looked at him, hoping that he was right. I sighed. “I love you too. Can we go home? I just want to get out of here.”

He nodded and put the car in drive.


	15. Part 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Language. Smut, smut with cookies. Stupid, stupid, stupid decisions. Enjoy!

Tom parked the car, but didn’t get out. He was looking around towards the woods on the side and in the back of the carriage house. He must have been satisfied, because he turned the car off, got out and came around to open my door. 

As we were walking to the door, he kept looking back and forth, and behind us. 

“Tom…” I started, but he gently pushed on the small of my back, moving me quicker towards the door and shushed me. 

Once we were inside, the downstairs door locked behind us, he stopped me and pulled me into a bone crushing hug. 

“Darling, I’m sorry. I just wanted to get you into the house before we talked. I have a feeling that tonight was not the last we will see of our good friend, John. I don’t like this. I don’t like knowing that I can’t be with you at all times until this is over.” He said into my hair. 

“Tom, I’ll be fine. It will be ok. Doug will find him tonight and it will all be over. He’s not hiding in my woods!” I laughed, even though inside, I was freaking the fuck out. 

He looked at me and smirked. “Rose. Poker face.”

“Get outta my head, Hiddleston.” I mumbled. “Who the fuck does he think he is? Reading my mind. Damn it.” I thought. 

Tom took Mitch out for a quick bathroom break, making me lock the door behind him. I went into the living room and put on the local classical station and wandered back into the kitchen. I couldn’t believe this. What had started off as a shit day, had turned into a good night, only to then turn around and be a horror show. 

I went into the pantry and grabbed my Meme’s cookbook. I flipped to her chocolate chip cookie recipe and started gathering ingredients. I needed to do something, and baking is what I did when I needed to do something. And cookies sounded good to my still semi-drunk self. I already had all the dry ingredients in the bowl when Tom and Mitch finally came back in. 

Tom came and sat at the counter. His phone started to buzz and he answered it. 

“It’s Doug.” He said, stealing some walnuts. “No sign of him? Where could he have gone? I would appreciate that. Yes, I don’t think its a good idea either. I’m not sure she’ll like it though.” I swatted his hand with my wooden spoon, putting up my other hand in question. He waved me off. 

“Oh, fuck this shit. Tom, you give me that damn phone or you put him on speaker. NOW.” I said, brandishing my spoon. 

He reluctantly put the phone on speaker and placed it on the counter. 

“Doug, what the hell is going on?” I asked. 

“Oh, hey Rosie. Uh, well. The thing is. We can’t find John. His truck is still at Harvey’s. I’ve got a car outside his apartment and his parents place. We’ve got the other units out looking for him, but he’s off the grid, Honey. I was just saying to Tom, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go to work tomorrow. I’m going to put a car at your house to keep an eye on things.”

“No. I’m not missing work because he’s lost his mind. I already left work early yesterday and I’ve got too much stuff to do. I’ll be fine. Alex and Dr. W are there.” I said stubbornly. 

“Rosie…” Doug started.

“No, Douglas. I appreciate what your doing, I really do. But I’m not becoming a recluse. I’m going to go on living my life.” I looked at Tom. He was staring at me with a look on his face that I couldn’t quite figure out. He almost looked disappointed. 

Dough sighed. “I was afraid that’s how you would take this. Rosie, we just want you to be safe. I was talking to John’s friends. Even they were concerned for you. He’s lost his mind. They said he’s been talking about you like you’re still together. If you really insist on going to work tomorrow, at least have someone drive you and pick you up. And DO NOT leave on your own. Promise me, ok?”

“Doug, I wouldn’t do anything to intentionally put myself in harms way. I will try to be a good girl.” I tried to joke. It fell flat. 

“Ah, Doug. I was out walking Mitch, and there are footprints in the snow out in the back of the house. I’m not sure how long they’ve been there, but I though I should let you know.” Tom said, watching me. 

I looked down at the cookie dough, and started to spoon it out onto the cookie sheet. I had noticed the foot prints the other day, and had forgotten about them. Had he been here? 

“I’ll let the car that’s coming up know. I’ll have them take a look. I’ll check in with you guys tomorrow, and let you know any updates.” He said.

“Ok, thanks Doug, bye.” Tom said, hanging up the phone. 

I turned away from him and put the cookies in the oven. I stood there, wringing my hands, not wanting to turn around and talk to him. Not wanting to hear what he had to say. I knew that they just wanted me to be safe, but I could not believe that this was happening. It was insane. 

Tom stood from his stool at the counter and came behind me, putting his hands on my hips and pulling me into him, placing his chin on top of my head. He sighed. 

“Darling. I know that you’re upset. I know that you feel like you have no control and that we are dictating your life. We just want you to be safe. Be mad at me, at this point, I don’t care. I just found you and I’m not losing you. You need to listen. I want you to promise me that you will do everything that you can to stay safe, because it may have passed Doug’s notice, but not mine, that you did not promise.” He flipped me around so that I was facing him. He looked, well, pissed. Shit. 

“I don’t make promises. You can’t control what happens sometimes, and if you make a promise, and have to break it because you have no control over what’s happening….. I will not do anything stupid. You have to believe me. I won’t leave work tomorrow unless I absolutely have to, and that will most likely not happen. It will be fine.“ I said evasively. 

He narrowed his eyes and pulled me closer to him, his hands digging into my hips, crushing me into his. 

"Do you feel that? Even when you make me so angry I could breath fire, I still want you. I cannot risk you getting hurt again, or losing you. You need to take this seriously Rose. It’s not a joke. He wants to hurt you.” He lifted me up so that I had to wrap my legs around his middle. “Promise me. Now, Rose. I want your word.” He growled. 

“Tom…” I said, trailing off because he had started to kiss my neck, and had moved forward toward the counter so that he could free his hands. His hands were everywhere.

“Rose. Now.” He said, pulling back. His eyes were boring into mine. 

“Fine, I promise.” I said, as he continued his assault on my neck and chest with his kisses. 

“You promise what?” He murmured.

“Oh, for crying out loud! I promise I will not do anything stupid.” I said as I was pulling his shirt over his head. He pulled down my pants and I was fumbling with his belt. He pulled me off the counter and turned me around, so that I was leaning against it. I heard his zipper and he gently pushed me down against the counter. 

He ran his hand down the part of my back that was exposed, making me shiver. He chuckled. “That wasn’t so hard, now was it?” He said. He pushed a finger into me from behind, causing me to gasp. 

“Shit, Rose. You’re so wet.” He groaned. I pushed back onto his hand, enjoying the growl it elicited from him. He pulled his hand away, and I wimpered from the loss of his touch. I could feel him at my entrance, so I pushed back. 

“Ah, eager tonight, aren’t we?” He asked quietly. 

“Tom!” I whined, pushing back again. 

He slowly began pushing forward. It was killing me, I wanted him so badly. I was leaning against the counter, flour all over my black shirt, and I’m sure my face and hair. I gripped the edge of the counter, begging him to go faster. 

He finished the agonizingly slow entrance and stilled. I bucked back at him, causing him to grip my hips more tightly. He began to move, slowly, teasingly. 

I could feel my orgasm building already, the tension making me cry out his name. He was continuing his painfully slow thrusts, and I broke. I felt myself tighten around him, and my legs began shaking. I saw stars. He started to move faster, gripping me hard. I could barely breathe. Another began to build and then several broke in rapid succession. I could barely hold onto the counter. 

“Your life is not yours to just play games with. I love you. You are mine, Rose. Do you understand?” He gasped.

I nodded, because I couldn’t speak.

Finally, he grunted his release. He held me still for a moment, and then caught me as my legs gave out. He picked me up an put me over his shoulder and reached over and opened the oven door as the timer went off. He grabbed a towel and removed the cookies. He turned off the oven and carried the cookies and me to the bedroom. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day I was sitting at my desk, on the phone with a hospital in Boston, attempting to get medical records on a patient of ours that was inpatient. I was humming along with the hold music, thinking about last night. Tom had been like a man possessed. It was like he couldn’t get enough of me. I giggled, thinking of the cookies. The cookies….

“What’s so funny?” Alex asked as he walked by with a patient. I just waved and smiled. 

Tom had driven me to work and waked me into the building that morning. I had started to tell him he was overreacting, but at the look on his face I shut it. He had passed me off to Alex. I felt like a prisoner. 

Tom had called me at lunch, asking me if I wanted to go to dinner, seeing as it was New Years Eve. He had made reservations at a quite place not far from my apartment. I was mentally going through my closet, trying to figure out what to wear when Alex came back over. 

“Tom’s taking me to dinner tonight, Antonio’s. Should I wear my black dress, or the green one?” I asked, switching the phone to my other ear. 

“The green, but wear your hair up. It has that high neckline.” He said, absentmindedly, texting on his phone. 

“Is that the warden, checking in on me?” I asked. 

“Jesus, Rose. Cut the man some slack. He’s only got your best interest at heart. He is concerned. We all are. You should be too.” Alex snapped. 

I hung up the phone and turned to face him. “Don’t you think that I’m concerned? I’m fucking petrified, Alex. Someone wants to hurt me, possibly to kill me. Don’t think for one minute that I don’t realize the severity of this situation. But if I stop and think about it. If I let it sink in, I’m going to crack, and I can’t let that happen. If that happens, that son of a bitch wins.” I said, slamming my fist on my desk. “I wish you people would stop saying that I’m not taking this seriously.” I was getting choked up. 

“Oh, Rose. I’m sorry honey. I should have known that you were taking this more seriously than you were letting on.” He said, coming over and giving me a hug. “It’ll be ok. Doug will find him, and in the meantime, you will have all your friends constantly badgering you to stay safe.” He chuckled when I let him go and punched his arm. 

“Wear the black peep toes.” He said, leaving me to go out front to get a patient. 

I went back to my desk to call back medical records, and my phone rang. 

“Doctor’s Office, can I help you?” I asked, digging around in my drawer for a nail file. 

“Rosie?” Asked a small voice.

“Sarah? Is that you?” I asked, sitting up straight in my chair. Something didn’t sound right. 

“Oh Rosie! I’m so glad you picked up! Is Teddy with you? I need to speak to him.” She asked.

“Sarah, honey, where’s Norma?” I asked her.

“She’s in the bedroom. The nice man said that she was too loud and put her to bed. Is Teddy coming home?” She asked.

“What do you mean, the nice man? Sarah, who’s there? Is there someone there with you?” I was trying to stay calm, but I had a very bad feeling. 

“Oh, yes, he came for tea. He said that he is a friend of Teddy’s, from the war. Rosie, why did he get to come home, but Teddy is still there?” I could hear someone in the background, asking her to give him the phone. 

“Hello, Rose.” It was John. My heart dropped. He was at Sarah and Norma’s house. He had done something to Norma. Fuck. 

“What have you done? If you hurt so much as one hair on their heads, I swear-” I didn’t get to finish, because he cut me off. 

“You listen carefully, Rose. I know that all your bodyguards are watching you like hawks. I don’t care how you do it, but you get your ass over here, and do it quick, or that loud mouth one is going to be joining her dear brother. And don’t call Deputy Dipshit. I’ve got the scanner on, I’ll know.” The line went dead. 

I looked around, at a loss. What the fuck was I going to do? I pulled out my phone, and opened a text to Tom. 

“This is why I don’t make promises. I love you. Please forgive me.” and hit send. 

I went over to Alex’s desk and grabbed his keys, and left out the back door.


	16. Part 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: language, violence, fluffy stuffs.

“Seriously, Alex? Can this piece of shit not go above 40?” I yelled as I whipped around a corner, trying to get to Sarah and Norma’s house a quickly as possible. I had no idea what I was going to do, but I knew that I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to them because of me. 

I pulled into their driveway, threw the car in park and jumped out. I ran up the walk and into the house. 

Sarah was sitting in her chair in the parlor, with a cup of tea in her hands. John was sitting on the sofa, across from her. 

“Oh, Rosie! What a nice surprise! Come in and have a seat. Would you like some tea? This is Mr…. er, Mr….” She trailed off, looking at John, as if just realizing she had no idea who he was. 

“It’s ok Sarah. Are you ok?” I asked, moving towards her. John jumped up and waved a hand gun at me. 

“That didn’t take very long. How did you get here?” He asked, going to the window and looking out front. 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “I stole Alex’s car. You told me to get here quickly, where’s Norma? I want to see her.” I demanded. 

He stared at me, like he couldn’t believe that I had actually come. 

“She’s fine. We have to leave. They’re going to come looking for you soon, we need to get out of here.” He came towards me and I stepped back. He reached out and grabbed my arm hard and pulled me into him. 

“Oh, no. My darling Rose. You’re not getting away from me now. I told you that I would make you come back to me.” He leaned in to kiss me and I pulled back. “You fucking bitch!” He slapped me across the face, making me fall on the ground. Sarah screamed, trying to get up. 

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I just wasn’t expecting it!” I cried, holding my hand to my face. That had fucking hurt. John had turned his gun on Sarah. “Sarah, sit down Honey, it’s ok. I’m ok.” I said to her, trying to think. What the fuck was I going to do. I had to get him out of here before one of them got hurt. 

John pulled me up by my arm. He pushed me towards the door, but I turned around and placed my hands on his chest. 

“John, please, let me check on Norma before we go. I promise I will go wherever you want, willingly. I’ve missed you so much.” I leaned into him and kissed him. 

“I’m going to fucking vomit. I’m going to fucking vomit!” Was all I could think, but he seemed to believe me because he smiled. The mother fucker smiled. 

“Ok, but hurry up. I want to get out of here.” He said, sitting down on the sofa again. 

I quickly moved down the hall to Norma’s room. I threw open the door, and she was sitting on the bed, her hands and legs bound and a piece of tape across her mouth. I ran over to her and slowly peeled the tape back. 

“Jesus Christ, Rose! What the fuck are you doing here? You shouldn’t have come! You know that he’s insane!” She hissed at me. 

“Shhh. I’m so sorry, Norma. I’m going to get him to leave with me-”

“Oh, no you don’t! Rose, look at me, do not leave with him. He will kill you. He’s a fucking nut bag. Off his god damn rocker! He kept talking about you like you were going to fall into his arms with gratitude when you saw him. He’s bat shit crazy.” She said, looking towards the door. 

“It’s the only way, Norma.” I said as I untied her hands. I could hear him coming down the hall. “Quick, put your hands back so it looks like your still tied.” I whispered. 

“Take my car. It has GPS tracking. Oh, Rose-” She said quickly, but the door was thrown open and John was standing there. 

“See, the crazy old bitch is fine. I didn’t hurt her.” He said in a mocking voice. 

I turned and smiled at him, feeling the bile rise in my throat. 

“Are you ready hun?” I asked, standing up from the bed and walking over to him. He looked skeptical for a moment, but I tentatively reached out and put my hand on his chest. It made my skin crawl. 

“Yeah, lets go.” He said, turning to leave the room. 

“John? Lets go to the cabin! We haven’t been there in ages! Wouldn’t it be nice to sit by the fire, and get, ah, reacquainted?” I asked him. “Jesus, Rose, keep a straight face. Do not throw up. Make him believe it.” I was thinking, dying inside. 

“Yeah, the cabin…. Ok. What? Mr. Hollywood wasn’t man enough to do it right? You missed being with a real man, huh?” He asked, grabbing my ass as we walked down the hall. I covered a gag with a cough. 

“Oh, baby. He couldn’t even begin to be compared to you.” I simpered, “Is he really buying this shit?” I though. 

I grabbed Norma’s keys and headed toward the front door, pulling him with me. 

“I knew you regretted leaving me.“ He smirked as we got into the car. He insisted that I drive, so he could keep his gun available, incase I had a change of heart. 

I pulled out of the drive, and noticed a big, old pickup truck parked a few houses down. It pulled out into the street and followed us to the corner. 

I was trying to pay attention to what John was rambling about, he was saying something about his mother, and how she didn’t think that I would be a good mother, because I never too good enough care of him, of his needs. I nodded in agreement, because I was busy watching the truck. 

I turned onto the highway, trying to go as slow as I could, but at Johns insistence, I sped up. The truck fell behind. 

“Don’t you think it would be better if we took a back road? More scenic.” I said. 

“Sure.” He said. He seemed to be calming down, now that he really thought that I wanted to be with him. I slowed way down, before the off ramp, hoping the old truck could keep up.

As I was taking a left off the end of the off ramp, about to lose hope, I saw it in the rear view. “Oh, thank you God!” I thought. 

I drove down the road, the truck was careful to stay far enough behind as not to be noticed. Suddenly, the car started to sputter, and died. 

“What did you do?” John yelled.

“N-n-nothing! It just stopped working!” I cried, as I steered it to the side of the road. I tried to turn the ignition, but it would not start. 

I chanced a look at John, and he did not look happy. “Get out of the fucking car. Lets go. Now!” He yelled. 

I scrambled out of the car and around to the side of the car. He grabbed my arm and started walking towards the woods. I tried to pull my arm free, but he just pushed the gun into my side. 

“I don’t know what you did, but you’re going to regret this. Do you think I’m fucking stupid? That was always your problem, you know that? You think that you’re so much smarter than everyone. You and your fucking books. Come on, move, damnit!” He yelled, pushing me further into the woods. 

“John, please, don’t do anything crazy. I promise, I want to be with you!” I tried, earning myself a particularly ruthless push, that made me trip and fall onto the path. I lay there, contemplating what I was going to do. Try to fight him? Probably not, I would end up getting shot. Try to run? Shot. I had no choice but to get up and move on, hoping that I could somehow distract him, that the truck really was following us, and that help was on the way. 

It was starting to get foggy, and we weren’t on a path, just trudging through the brush. My pants got caught on a branch, ripping. I tripped and fell again. I pulled myself up onto my knees, and looked up into the barrel of the gun. 

“Here’s as good a place as any, I guess. I told you. I fucking told you and you didn’t believe me. I told you that I would teach you to respect me. You fucking ruined everything. We were happy. You were happy. You just didn’t know it. You thought were too good. You thought that you were better than me.”

“John, please…” I cried, tears streaming down my face. This was it. I was never going to see Tom again. I was never going to be able to explain. To tell him I loved him again. 

“Do you really want to do that?” Came a voice from behind me. “No fucking way…” I thought. John had been focused on me, and didn’t hear him approach us. He lifted the gun so that it was now pointing over my head. I turned slowly on my knees. Tom. 

He had his hands up and his eyes locked on John. What the fuck was he doing? He was going to get shot.

“Tom…” I said. 

“Be quite, Rose. Men are talking.” He snapped, not looking at me. 

John blinked hard, and motioned towards me with the gun. 

“She’s not worth the trouble you’re gonna get from coming out here, Hollywood. Why would you bother?” He asked, and he seemed genuinely curious. 

“She’s a bitch. She used me, just like she used you. I came here for you, man. I didn’t want you to waste your life on this whore! You kill her, and you’re going away for life. She’s not worth it. She’s been nothing but a thorn in my side since I met her. I understand where you’re coming from. How dare she leave you? Make a fool out of you in front of your friends?” Tom drawled. 

I could not believe what I was hearing. He couldn’t… He couldn’t really mean those things, could he? “Oh my ever loving god, Rose! Stop being such a dumbass!” I yelled in my head. I was looking back and forth from my place on the forest floor. John definitely looked confused. 

Tom was inching closer to me, still talking to John about how awful I was. 

“No. No. I know what you’re doing. It’s not going to work. She thought that she could get away with the same thing. Try to get on my side, try to fool me. I SAID NO!” He screamed, waving the gun at Tom, raising it toward him. 

“No!” I cried, trying to get to John, trying to get in between them. I heard the gunshot and I was pushed into the ground by someone falling on me. 

“Tom! No, no, no, no! Tom, please. Please, Tom!” I screamed, trying to push him off of me so I could see him. 

I heard groaning, but it wasn’t coming from on top of me, it was coming from John. The weight was lifted off of me, and Tom pulled me into his arms. 

“Oh, God. Tom!” I choked on my tears, running my hands over his chest to make sure he was ok. 

“Shhh. I’ve got you, Darling. My irrational, insane girl. I’ve got you. You’re safe. You’re safe. Thank God, you’re safe.” He said, almost to himself, like a mantra. 

“You kids ok?” I heard the General call, quickly limping out of the woods. “Ha! Got the bugger in the shoulder! Losing my touch! I was aiming for his dick.” He said, shaking his head. 

I looked over at John, on the ground, with blood pooling around him. I pulled away from Tom, and started towards him. Tom grabbed my arm.

“He’s going to bleed out if we don’t stop the bleeding. I hate him, but I can’t just let him die.” I said. Tom nodded and let go of me. He came over with me and kicked the gun further away, not that he would have been able to use it. His shoulder was a mess. 

“I think he's going into shock.” I said, pulling my jacket off and putting it over him and pressing into his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain.

“Well, you shouldn’t have tried to kill us, you stupid fuck.” I snapped at him, as I pushed harder. 

“There’s my Rosie.” Chuckled the General. 

I could hear people calling our names, and the General yelled to them where we were. 

“Oh, my sweet Miss Thing. What have you gotten into now?” I heard Martha ask from behind me. She had arrived with Doug and about 10 other police officers. 

Tom pulled me up and into his arms, hugging me tight. 

“Rose, you know that I didn’t mean-” I cut him off. 

“I know. I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you went through.” I said, reaching up and kissing his lips. 

“I love you so much. I am so mad at you right now, but I am so relieved that you are alright. Are you hurt at all?” He asked.

“I’m fine. Are Norma and Sarah ok?” I asked him.

“You can ask her yourself, she’s in my cruiser out on the road.” Doug said, coming over. “Jesus, Rosie. Never a dull moment for you, eh?” He shook his head, watching Martha and her partner load John onto the stretcher. 

“My life had been very dull until about a week ago.” I said, leaning into Tom. “How did you guys find me?” I asked, looking up into Tom’s face. 

He looked down at me, pressing his lips into a thin line. “Shit, he’s really not pleased with me.” I thought. 

“Well, it just happened that I was on my way back early, to surprise you, when you sent me that lovely text.” He said, narrowing his eyes. 

“I’m sorry. I panicked. He had Norma and Sarah, and I couldn’t have lived with myself if he had hurt them…”

“I know, Darling. I just wish that you had called me, or called Doug. Told Alex, who was beside himself when he figured out that you were gone. I got to your work probably 5 minutes after you left. Alex had just come outside, he was pulling his hair out. He said that he had looked at your call logs and the last call was from Sarah. The General happened to be there for an appointment with you.” Tom said, squeezing me closer to him. 

“Which you stood me up for, may I add. I wouldn’t want my blood pressure checked right now, let me tell you!” He chuckled. 

“Since my car tends to, ah, stand out, around here, we took his truck, and parked it down the street. We called Doug, but you guys left before he got there, so we followed you. Norma called her GPS company and they shut the car down remotely.”

“Ah, that’s why she told me to take her car. Tom, I’m so sorry. I have been nothing but trouble since you met me.” I said, paraphrasing his words from earlier. 

“Shh. Please, the things I said, it was just nonsense, I didn’t mean any of that. I thought if I could distract him long enough to get to you… all I could think of was getting to you. Its over now. Come on, Darling. Lets go home.” He said, guiding me out of the woods. 

When we emerged from the woods, Norma was waiting. 

“Oh, Jesus! Thank god!” She cried, hugging me. “And you, my dear man! You, come here!” She grabbed Tom and practically climbed him. “You saved her. I will forever be thankful to you for this. You just may deserve her yet. If you keep up all this knight in shining armor shit, we might just allow you to keep her.” She said, winking at him. 

“I think the General had a lot to do with it, too.” Tom said, and the General smiled at him, as Normal turned her assault on him. 

“They would make a cute couple.” He murmured in my ear. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When we got home, Tom suggested just getting take out. I was all for that. While he was gone, I put on yoga pants and a baggy sweatshirt. There was a knock at the door. 

“Who is it?” I called, as I went into the kitchen. Even though I knew that John was in the hospital under police custody, I was still sketched out. 

“Rose, you are in a boat load of trouble. Open this damn door, Right. Now.” Alex called from the other side of the door. 

“Oh, fuck. I never called him!” I thought, panicking. 

I pulled open the door, and he was standing there, with Anthony, Martha, and Doug. 

He pulled me into a hug, lifting me off my feet. 

“Thank God you’re ok, you pain in the ass. I think I aged 20 years when I finally realized you had left. What the fuck, Rose!?” He said, shaking his head. 

“Oh, leave her alone, you big bear. She did what she thought she had to do. Was it unbelievably stupid? Yes. Should she never be allowed to forget how faulty her decision making skills are? Yes. Should she have to bring you lunch for a year to make up for it? Yes. But, for tonight, lets just let it go.“ Anthony said, putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder. 

"Faulty is one way to put it.” Tom said from the doorway, he was holding two large bags of takeout. "Hope you don’t mind, I thought you could use some friends to ring in the new year, love.” He said as he placed the food on the counter.

“Thank you.” I said, kissing his chin. 

“Alright, there, you two, enough of that shit. If I don’t get a glass of wine, I’m going to hurt somebody.” Alex said. 

It was just what I needed. A night with good food and wine, close friends and the man I loved. 

As I sat on the edge of the bed putting my hair into a braid, after everyone had left, I watched Tom getting ready for bed.

“ I love you.” I said to him. He stopped digging in his bag and smiled at me. 

“I love you, too, darling.” He said. 

“When I thought that he was going to kill me, you were my first thought. Or would have been my last thought. I know that this has been crazy, and whirlwind, and so fast, but I can’t imagine life without you now.” I said, feeling my eyes start to sting. 

He came to me and sat next to me on the bed, pulling me into his lap. 

“Darling, I love you to distraction, even though, as you said, this had been so quick. I don’t want to imagine life without you. Would you believe it if I told you the best thing I ever did was give into a craving for walnuts?” He laughed, pulling me closer, and kissing me. 

I think walnuts would always have a special place in my heart. 

Epilogue

My midnight blue ball gown billowed around me in the back seat of Anthony’s car. I clutched my small bag in my hand as Alex reached in to help me out. I patted my hair and took his proffered arm. 

I saw flashing lights off to the left. “What the?” I said turning to see a group of photographers, snapping pictures of me. 

“Shit, Rose! You’ve been found out!” Anthony hooted. 

“No, you don’t think they are here for me?” I asked, then they started calling my name. “Oh, for crying out loud!” I said, hurrying inside. 

“Well, at least we are all looking fine for our tabloid debut.” Alex chuckled. 

“Aren’t you glad I made you get a new tux?” Anthony shot at him, he just rolled his eyes. 

We crossed the lobby, and entered the ballroom. It had been done in a winter wonderland theme. It sparkled everywhere. 

We located our table, several of our friends were already there, including Norma and Sarah, and the General, looking dashing in his dress uniform. 

The General asked me to dance, and we were slowly waltzing around the dance floor, when I saw him. 

Standing in the doorway, looking unbelievable in a classic black tux, was Tom. He was scanning the room. His eyes fell on me and he grinned, waggling his eyebrows at me. 

“He’s a good man, Rosie.” Said the General quietly. 

I tore my gaze from Tom to look up into his face. “I know, I’m very lucky.” I said. 

“You’re both lucky. Listen to me, sweetheart. I don’t care what you have to do to make this work, because your definitely going to have to make compromises, but whatever it is, you do it. You kids were meant to be.” He said gruffly. 

Before I could think of a response, Tom materialized at the Generals elbow, asking if he could cut in. 

“Sarah was right, darling.” He said, his eyes taking over my dress. “You look ravishing in blue. I guess this is sort of like the prom.” He laughed. 

“I was secretly hoping that you would take me to the prom, so I guess I got my wish.” I said. 

“Does this mean I’ll get lucky in the backseat of my dad’s car tonight?” He asked. 

“Not in this dress! But I’m pretty sure something can be arranged.” I smiled, reaching up and pulling him into a kiss.


End file.
